'l^^^  PRINCETON.  N.  J. 


Purchased  by  the  Mary  Cheves  Dulles  Fund. 


Di-vision 


Section- 


Digitized  by  tine  Internet  Arcliive 
in  2015 


https://archive.org/details/througlilieartofafOOmell 


THROUGH  THE  HEART  OF  AFRICA 


The  Kalambo  P'ai.ls. 


THROUGH  THE 
HEART  OF  AFRICA 

Being  an  Account  of  a  Journey  on  Bicycles 
and  on  Foot  from  Northern  Rhodesia, 
past  the  Great  Lakes,  to  Egypt, 
undertaken  when  proceeding 
home  on  leave  in  19 lo 


FRANK  H.  MELLAND 

F.R.G.S.  F.Z.S.,  F.R.A.I. 

AND 

EDWARD  H.  CHOLMELEY 

F.R.A.I. 


"  Africa,  in  relation  to  world  politics,  is  but  an  annex  of  Europe, 
geographically  as  well  as,  now,  by  pre-emption" — Capt.  Mahan 


BOSTON  AND  NEW  YORK 

HOUGHTON  MIFFLIN  COMPANY 
1912 


Printed  by  Bali.ANTYNE,  HansoN  &'  Cc. 
At  the  Ballantyne  Press,  Edinburgh 


TO 

OUR  MOTHERS 

WE  DEDICATE 
THIS  ACCOUNT  OF  OUR  JOURNEY 


ACKNOWLEDGMENT 


We  owe  our  thanks  to  all  who  on  our  journey 
answered  our  numerous  questions  and  supplied  us 
with  information,  to  many  friends  who  by  their 
sympathy  and  encouragement  have  helped  us  to 
write  this  record  of  our  travels,  and  to  Mr.  L.  A. 
Wallace,  Administrator  of  Northern  Rhodesia,  but 
for  whose  kindness,  in  allowing  us  time  to  work  at 
it  after  our  return  from  leave,  this  book  could  not 
have  been  written. 

F.  H.  M.,  E.  H.  C. 

LivijJGSTONE,  Northern  Rhodesia, 
Jtme  191 1. 


CONTENTS 


I 

TO  THE  GERMAN  BORDER 

PAGE 

Introductory — Reasons  for  journey — Preliminary  preparations — 
Method  of  travel — The  start — Kasama— Abercorn — Kawimbe 
Mission — Mishap  to  one  bicycle — Kalambo  Falls    .       .       .  i 


II 

BISMARCKBURG  AND  LYANGALILE 

Lake  Tanganyika — Bismarckburg — Life  in  a  German  fort — Journey 
to  Mwazye — The  French  Fathers — Notes  on  the  Watwaki 
rulers  in  Lufipa — Religious  beliefs  of  the  Wakuluwe        .       .  lo 


III 

RUKWA 

A  steep  descent — Attractive  native  dance — The  horrors  of  the 
bufTalo-bean — Meeting  with  the  Mutwaki  ruler  Sa — Tribal 
characteristics  of  the  Wakwa — Simba  Mission — Negro  nuns — 
Curious  customs  and  beliefs  of  the  Wakwa      ....  26 


IV 

RUKWA  TO  TABORA 

Game  on  the  Kavu  River — A  long  stalk — Euphorbia-stockaded 

villages — Unintentional    change  of   route  —  Reception  by 

Muchereka,  Mulungwa  chief — And  by  Kasamia — "Tembo" 

architecture — Prevalence  of  tsetse  fly— Sport  on  the  Ugalla 

River — Kalula,  chief  of  the  Wagunda — Belt  of  good  timber, 

with  sawpits — Arrival  at  Tabora      .       .       ,       .       ,       .  42 

ix 


X 


CONTENTS 


V 

TABOR A 

PACK 

Cordial  reception  by  the  officials — Engagement  of  carriers — The 
market — Tlie  mission — Description  of  the  town — Absence  of 
any  form  of  recreation  grounds — Herr  Siegel,  the  Distrikts 
Kommissar — Transport  via  the  Uganda  Railway — Curious 
contention  of  the  Germans — The  effect  of  the  German  railway 
from  Dar-es-Salam  on  this  traffic  and  on  Tabora     •       •       •  59 


VI 

TABORA  TO  MWANZA 

Encounter  with  party  of  missionaries — Curious  rock  formation  at 
Ngaya — Notes  on  the  Wanyamwezi — Game  on  the  Mbala 
Plain — Soap  and  oil  factory  at  Salabwe — Scenery  on  Mwanza 
Gulf — Carriers  on  road — Arrival  at  Mwanza    ....  69 


VII 

MWANZA  AND  THE  ADMINISTRATION  OF  GERMAN 
EAST  AFRICA 

Description  of  Mwanza — Perambulations  and  perplexities — Pro- 
tracted negotiations  with  the  Customs  department — General 
impressions  of  German  East  Africa — The  country,  natives, 
markets  and  small  coinage,  climate — An  examination  of  the 
old  regime  and  the  new  84 


VIII 

THE  VICTORIA  NYANZA  AND  THE  UGANDA  RAILWAY 

The  s.s.  Sybil — Our  fellow-passengers — Bukoba — Baganda  canoes 
— Bukakata — Entebbe — The  raising  of  the  game  licence — De- 
finite choice  of  itinerary — An  impression  of  the  beauties  of 
Entebbe — The  police  sports — Kind  reception  and  hospitality 
— The  ill-fated  bicycle — The  Ripon  Falls — Meeting  with  Dr. 
Milne — Port  Florence — Scenery  on  the  railway       .      .      .  103 


CONTENTS 


xi 


IX 

BRITISH  EAST  AFRICA 

PAGE 

Nairobi — The  derelict  bicycle  is  repaired — Visits  to  dentist,  photo- 
grapher, and  other  business— Journey  to  Punda  Milia  by  motor 
— View  of  Mount  Kenia — Attack  of  fever — A  sisal  farm — Sport 
— Return  to  Nairobi — Hospitality  of  the  residents — The  race- 
meeting — Lottery  night  at  the  Club — Meeting  with  Wawemba 
soldiers — Return  to  Port  Florence — Impressions  of  the  country 
and  of  the  natives — Prospects  for  intending  settlers        .  .116 

X 

RETURN  TO  ENTEBBE  AND  BY  MOTOR  TO  MUBENDI 

Across  the  lake  on  the  s.s.  Cletnetit  Hill — The  Entebbe  Customs — 
Botanical  Gardens — Preparations  for  journey  north — The  golf- 
links — Further  impressions  of  Entebbe — Departure  by  motor- 
waggon — Rain  at  Kampala — Wonders  of  the  motor  road — Its 
maintenance — "Mosquito  Camp" — Our  fellow-passengers  and 
the  prospects  for  settlers — Mishap  to  the  car  and  other  in- 
cidents— Mubendi — Meeting  with  the  Acting  Governor  .       .  136 

XI 

MUBENDI  TO  HOIMA 

Our  new  carriers — A  chief's  house  and  garden — The  civilisation 
of  the  Baganda — System  of  feeding  carriers — Rate  of  pay — 
Agricultural  development  —  The  cotton  industry  —  A  native 
market  —  Bukumi  mission  —  Elephant  grass — Our  camp — 
Crossing  a  swamp — Hoima — Ivory  poaching  in  the  Congo — 
A  Nubian  wedding  at  the  military  camp — Marriage  laws  of 
the  Banyoro — -Land  settlement  and  communications  in  the 
Bunyoro  province — Missions  at  Hoima — Start  for  Bugoma    .  154 

XII 

ELEPHANT  HUNTING  NEAR  THE  ALBERT  NYANZA 

The  "Kabaka"  of  Bunyoro — Heavy  rain — The  Bugoma  forest — 
Colobus  monkeys — Death  of  our  dogs — ^After  elephant  in 
"elephant  grass" — Helplessness  of  the  hunter  Duawiri — The 
Albert  Nyanza — Our  first  elephant — A  wet  night — Example 
of  native  stupidity — An  important  change  in  our  projected 


CONTENTS 

'  PACE 

itinerary — More  elephants  near  the  lake — A  big  one  wounded 
and  lost — More  blank  days  in  difficult  country — The  forest 
hog — A  herd  of  elephants  bogged  in  a  stream — Return  to 
Hoitna  172 


XIII 

ELEPHANT  HUNTING  IN  THE  MASINDI  DISTRICT— I 

Sale  of  our  ivory  at  Hoima — A  civet  cat — Total  eclipse  of  the 
moon — Encounter  with  Captain  Tufnell — Masindi — Elephant 
hunting  in  a  forest  belt — Our  second  elephant — Blank  days 
near  Samusoni's  and  Benjamin's  191 


XIV 

ELEPHANT  HUNTING  IN  THE  MASINDI  DISTRICT— II 

The  Victoria  Nile  at  Kishilisi — Jackson's  hartebeeste  and  steinbok 
— Back  to  Kiliandongo's — More  blank  days  after  elephants — 
Risks  run  by  shamba  dwellers — Our  carriers  go  on  strike,  but 
are  appeased — Still  more  blank  days — Our  third  elephant— An 
evening  outing — Crossing  the  Nile — Palango — Repatriation 
of  our  Rhodesian  natives — Arrival  of  Captain  Place        .       .  204 


XV 

THROUGH  THE  LANGO  AND  ACHOLI  COUNTRY 

The  Lango — The  system  of  governing  through  Baganda  agents — 
Description  of  the  clothing,  ornaments,  accoutrements,  villages, 
and  huts  of  the  Lango — Start  from  Palango — Our  escorts  and 
carriers — Travelling  in  the  Lango  country — Two  swampy 
rivers — Mount  Moru — Reception  at  Mwaka's— The  Lango  at 
work— Mwaka's  "  army  "  — Gulu  —  The  Acholi  —  A  hunting 
party — Oliya's  village— His  cadet  corps — More  trouble  with 
the  bicycle — Nimule  218 


XVI 

NIMULE  TO  GONDOKORO 

Uninviting  country  —  The  Assua  River  —  Arrangements  for  food 
supply  and  extra  carriers — Christmas  Day — Ledju,  the  rain- 
maker— Rejaf — Arrival  at  Gondokoro — Sale  of  our  camp  kit 
— Arrival  of  the  Gordon  Pasha — Notes  on  Uganda  and  its 
administration  243 


CONTENTS 


xiii 


XVII 

THE  SOUDAN 

PAGE 

The  Gordon  Pasha — New  Year's  Eve  at  Lado — Mongalla — The 
Dinka  tribe — An  old  friend — The  sudd — The  Bahr-el-Ghazal 
and  Sobat  —  Kodok  —  The  White  Nile  railway  bridge  — 
Khartoum — Omdurman — Khalifa's  palace,  Mahdi's  tomb,  and 
market-place — School  and  hospital — The  Gordon  College — 
The  Nubian  Desert — Wady  Haifa  260 


XVIII 

EGYPT 

Down  the  Nile  to  Shellal — Phila?  and  the  Dam — Asswan — Luxor 
— The  temples  of  Thebes  and  the  tombs  of  the  kings — Karnak 
and  Luxor  temples — Abydos — Cairo — Tura — The  Pyramids  in 
sleet — Port  Said — End  of  our  journey — Retrospect — Notes  on 
clothes,  rifles,  cameras  273 


XIX 

SOME  AFRICAN  PROBLEMS 


The  rapid  opening  up  of  Africa  by  rail  and  river,  and  some  reflec- 
tions on  the  problems  that  this  development  is  presenting  .  28& 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 


The  Kalambo  P'alls  Frontispiece 

FACING  PAGE 

A  Mambwe  village   6 

Magistrate's  Office,  Abercorn   ........  6 

Mwazye  Mission       ..........  12 

Kifanyula,  our  Munyampala,  Gun  Boy,  Bicycle  Boy,  and  other 

German  East  African  carriers   12 

Old  Mufipa  Man   14 

Kiatu,  the  Mutwaki  Chief  of  the  senior  branch  of  the  Wa  Fipa      .  14 

"  A  magnificent  tree  .  .  .  under  which  we  pitched  our  camp"       .  28 

The  Community  of  Black  Nuns                                                .  32 

"  The  composure  of  her  bearing  .  .  .  sadly  marred  by  ill-fitting 

dress,  straw  sombrero,  and  ammunition  boots  "  .      .       .  -34 
"  A  fine  church  was  in  the  course  of  construction  "  .       .       .  -34 
"Two  solitary  fangs  in  a  mobile  and  humorous  mouth  "  .       .  -44 

Making  native  beer  ..........  44 

Another  photo  of  little  Mbaula  ........  44 

Native  utensils,  "bellows,  ladles,  and  trays "  .....  48 

Drawing  water  from  a  water  hole  in  a  village  near  the  Ugalla       .  48 

One  of  the  Authors  in  his  travelling  Clothes  at  Kelula    ...  52 

"  We  bagged  a  leopard  "   52 

A  Tembo  village  (to  right  of  background).    Beehives  in  trees  in 

the  foreground  '54 

In  a  Mugunda  village.    In  the  foreground  is  a  native  bed      .       .  54 
"  The  Mission  House  is  a  fine  specimen  of  an  old  Arab  dwelling  "  .  62 
"The  soap  vendors  .  .  .  sitting  .  .  .  sedulously  working  speci- 
mens of  it  into  a  lather "    62 

A  fine  old  Arab  carved  doorway  at  Tabora  (in  an  Arab  house)      .  64 

Chiefs  house  at  Kahama   72 

Natives  threshing  Kafir  Corn   72 

A  balanced  rock  at  Mwanza   84 

View  from  our  camp  at  Mwanza   84 

A  memorial  to  Bismarck  near  our  camp   86 

b 


xvi  LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 

PACING  PACE 


At  Bukoba,  Victoria  Nyanza,  the  "  Sybil"  and  Baganda  canoes     .  104 

"  Red,  green-edged  roads  "   104 

Ripon  Falls   112 

Port  Florence  civilisation  :  the  Quay   114 

The  Uganda  Railway   114 

Nairobi  Station   116 

Government  House,  front  view   116 

Suburban  houses  on  "The  Hill"   118 

Nairobi  Races  :  the  Grand  Stand   118 

Breaking  up  the  land  on  an  East  African  farm       .       .       .  .124 

Two-year  sisal  at  Punda  Milia   124 

Mr.  Alison  Russell  and  his  Bougainvillea-covered  porch  .  .  140 
The  Uganda  Government  motor-car  on  the  road    .       .       .  .140 

"  The  finest  bit  of  engineering  on  the  road"   152 

Mr.  Stanley  Tomkins,  Acting  Governor  of  Uganda .  .  .152 

Fencing  Yekula's  Garden   156 

Allotting  our  loads  to  carriers  at  Mubendi   156 

Bukumi  Mission   158 

The  Dwelling-house,  Bukumi   158 

Resting  in  a  "  Banda  "   164 

Ferrying  our  loads  across  a  swamp  on  Papyrus  rafts      .       .       .  164 

Looking  for  elephants  on  the  Albert  Nyanza   174 

The  Kabaka's  Dancers   174 

Our  First  Elephant   178 

Bargaining   178 

In  Camp   196 

The  D.C.'s  House  at  Masindi   196 

Our  Second  Elephant   202 

"The  stripping  and  uprooting  of  several  large  trees"     .       .       .  202 

Chumamaboko  standing  by  a  Jackson's  hartebeeste       .       .       .  204 

Preparing  to  cross  the  Nile   216 

Fish  basket  on  the  Victoria  Nile   216 

Ferrying  cattle  on  the  channels  abutting  on  the  \'ictoria  Nile       .  218 

Borassus  Palms   220 

Weighing  our  third  pair  of  tusks  in  camp   220 

"  Costume  consisting  chiefly  of  tattoo  marks,  a  small  girdle  round 
the  waist,  from  which  hangs,  in  front,  a  miniature  apron  ...  of 
iron  chain-work  .  .  .  or  strands  of  hair,  and  behind  .  .  .  along 

tail  hangs  down  to  the  ground  "   222 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 


xvii 


FACING  PAGE 

"The  men  ...  of  fine  physique,  occasionally  wear  a  skin  loin- 


cloth, but  more  often  a  small  skin  apron  is  suspended  from  .  .  . 

a  corset  of  .  .  .  grass  "   224 

Mwaka's  Army   226 

"  The  doorways  are  more  or  less  circular  and  very  low  "  .       .       .  226 

Old  Lango  Woman   236 

"  There  were  some  lounges  ...  of  most  original  design  "  .  .  236 
"Young  Acholi  Bloods  .  .  .  even  more  tightly  laced  than  their 

Lango  neighbours "   23S 

"  Oliya's  son,  clad  in  a  goat-skin  and  a  walking-stick  .  .  .  240 
"A  Headman  of  the  Lango  Chief  and  one  of  Mwaka's  sons  who 

came  through  to  Gondokoro  with  us  "   242 

Looking  across  the  Nile  to  Rejaf   248 

The  D.C.'s  House  at  Gondokoro   248 

Gondokoro  Post  Boat  going  upstream   264 

Inland  Dinka  hut   264 

Ash-covered  Dinka   266 

Dinka  woman  making  mats   266 

Primitive  irrigation  on  the  Nile   268 

White  Nile  Bridge,  the  centre  span  swinging   268 

Map  of  the  Route  At  e?id. 


"  One  of  the  pleasantest  things  in  the  world  is 
going  a  journey." — Hazlitt 


THROUGH   THE  HEART 
OF  AFRICA 


I 

TO  THE  GERMAN  BORDER 

Introductory — Reasons  for  journey — Preliminary  preparations — Method 
of  travel — The  start — Kasama — Abercorn — Kawimbe  Mission — 
Mishap  to  one  bicycle — Kalambo  Falls. 

The  question  that  probably  first  suggests  itself  to  the 
majority  of  readers  of  books  of  travel  in  Africa  or  in  any 
uncivilised  quarter  of  the  globe,  namely,  what  was  the 
object  of  the  journey  and  what  was  to  be  gained  by  it,  is 
not  a  difficult  one  to  answer  to  the  satisfaction  of  those, 
now  growing  year  by  year  more  numerous,  who  know 
first  hand  the  call  of  Africa,  and  the  peculiar  fascination 
of  life  and  travel  in  the  so-called  inhospitable  or  savage 
interior.  The  motives  that  have  inspired  others  to  under- 
take journeys  through  latitudes  that  to  the  uninitiated 
may  seem  uninviting,  are  almost  as  numerous  as  the 
travellers  themselves.  That  of  many  has  been  exploration, 
of  others  commercial  enterprise,  of  many  the  extension  of 
missionary  work,  of  others  the  pursuit  of  scientific  in- 
vestigation, while  for  some  it  has  been  merely  for  sport  or 
in  the  spirit  of  adventure.  Of  ourselves  we  need  merely 
say  that,  after  years  of  residence  in  the  Northern  and 
least  known  province  of  Rhodesia,  with  a  thorough  ac- 
quaintance with  the  ordinary  ways  of  reaching  and  leaving 
the  continent,  inspired  by  a  craving  to  know  something 
more  of  what  lay  beyond  us,  we  decided  to  travel  home 

A 


2 


THROUGH  THE   HEART  OF  AFRICA 


by  the  countries  to  the  North  of  us,  instead  of  by  the 
more  beaten  tracks.  The  probabiHty  that  our  acquaint- 
ance with  a  similar  country  would  enable  us  the  better 
to  observe  and  more  justly  appreciate  what  we  saw  than 
the  traveller  or  sportsman  paying  perhaps  his  only  visit  to 
the  continent,  helped  to  encourage  us  in  the  hope  that  a 
journey  that  was  bound  to  occupy  at  least  the  greater  part 
of  our  vacation  leave  would  not  be  without  result  as  a 
useful  and  educative  experience.  Moreover,  the  somewhat 
conflicting,  though  interesting,  nature  of  the  accounts  of 
such  countries  from  the  pens  of  temporary  residents  and 
other  travellers,  as  well  as  from  visitors  with  whom  we  had 
come  in  contact,  formed  to  us,  interested  as  we  were  both 
in  the  African  native  and  the  possibilities  and  develop- 
ment of  his  country,  an  extra  incentive  to  a  first-hand 
study  of  the  conditions  in  the  neighbouring  territories. 

It  was  as  early  as  1907  that  we  definitely  decided  to 
go  home  through  German  East  Africa  to  the  Victoria 
Nyanza,  and  thence  to  proceed  either  through  Uganda  to 
the  Soudan,  and  down  the  Nile  to  Cairo,  or,  after  a  short 
tour  in  Uganda,  to  travel  down  through  British  East  Africa 
to  Mombasa,  halting  at  some  of  the  more  interesting  places 
en  route,  and  seeing  what  we  could  of  the  surrounding 
country.  The  final  choice  of  routes  had  to  remain  un- 
decided until  we  could  be  quite  sure  that  circumstances, 
such  as  time  and  health,  would  permit  of  our  first  plan 
being  carried  out.  In  the  meantime,  besides  acquiring 
and  perusing  a  few  of  the  works  and  official  publications 
that  deal  with  the  conditions  prevailing  in  some  of  the 
countries  through  which  we  intended  to  pass,  we  devoted 
ourselves  to  the  collection  of  such  various  information 
and  data  as  could  be  of  use  to  us  during  the  journey. 

In  addition  to  the  published  works,  and  information 
kindly  furnished  us  by  the  various  Government  secretariats, 
we  had  the  advantage  of  the  notes  and  itineraries  com- 
piled by  our  friends  Messrs.  A.  De  L.  Long  and  P.  K. 
Glazebrook,  Mr.  J.  B.  Don,  and  the  late  Mr.  George  Grey, 
whose  tragic  death  is  deeply  and  universally  regretted  in 
those  parts  of  Africa  in  which  he  spent  so  many  years  of 


TO  THE  GERMAN  BORDER 


3 


his  life.  The  two  first  named  had  in  the  course  of  two 
of  their  visits  to  the  continent  travelled  through  German 
East  Africa,  and  from  Entebbe  to  Gondokoro  ;  Mr.  Don 
had  a  little  more  recently  bicycled  from  King  Williams- 
town  to  the  Albert  Nyanza  ;  while  Mr.  Grey  had  made  a 
careful  cyclometer  record  of  the  direct  route  from  Aber- 
corn  through  German  East  Africa  to  the  Victoria  Nyanza  ; 
but  there  were,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  but  two  short  stages 
during  which  we  followed  the  route  taken  by  any  of  these 
travellers,  as  our  object  was  rather  to  avoid  than  follow 
the  beaten  tracks,  but  their  itineraries  were  useful  as  a 
stand-by,  and  enabled  us  at  least  on  one  occasion  to 
contradict  the  exaggerated  estimate  of  the  distance 
between  camps  that  our  carriers  would  have  had  us 
believe. 

As  for  method  of  travel  and  transport,  the  journey 
from  Rhodesia  to  the  Soudan  would,  we  knew,  have  to 
be  performed  in  the  manner  to  which  we  had  been  accus- 
tomed in  the  course  of  our  duties :  complete  equipment 
and  a  large  supply  of  provisions  would  have  to  be  carried 
by  native  porters,  while  we  ourselves  went  partly  on  foot 
and  partly  on  bicycle. 

In  those  parts  of  Central  Africa  where  the  existence 
of  tsetse  fly  renders  the  use  of  all  transport  animals 
impossible,  the  usual  method  of  personal  conveyance  has 
been  for  some  years  the  machila  or  hammock,  slung  on  a 
pole  and  carried  on  the  shoulders  of  natives,  but  this  is 
now  becoming  largely  superseded  by  the  use  of  the 
bicycle  ;  and  we  had  long  since  learnt,  what  will  probably 
come  as  a  surprise  to  many,  that  really  a  very  consider- 
able proportion  not  only  of  the  cleared  tracks,  but  also  of 
the  native  paths  in  Central  Africa  provide  almost  as  good 
a  surface  for  cycling  as  could  be  desired.  The  fact  that 
we  used  bicycles  has  perhaps  given  rise  to  an  erroneovis 
idea  that  our  intention  was  simply  to  get  through  the 
country  travelling  as  quickly  as  possible  from  point  to 
point,  and  accompanied  by  few  if  any  native  carriers  or 
impedimenta.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  though  this  can  be  and 
has  been  done,  our  machines  were  never  meant  to  provide 


4       THROUGH  THE   HEART  OF  AFRICA 


anything  more  than  a  rehef  from  the  fatigue  and  monotony 
of  foot  slogging.  To  this  extent  their  use  in  Africa  is 
considerable,  but  it  must  not  be  supposed  that  it  enables 
one  to  travel  any  greater  distances,  or  affects  the  fact  that 
the  day's  trek  has  to  be  entirely  regulated  according  to 
the  capacity  of  one's  carriers. 

The  problems  that  remained  to  be  solved  were  to  what 
extent,  and  where,  we  could  rely  on  obtaining  carriers  en 
route,  and  how  far  we  should  have  to  carry  provisions  to 
last  us  for  the  whole  journey. 

For  a  journey  straight  through  to  Gondokoro,  the 
latter  would  have  been  a  matter  of  no  great  difficulty,  as  it 
could  be  performed  in  something  like  two  months,  but  as 
we  intended  to  see  something  of  the  countries  on  our  way, 
to  spend  some  five  or  six  months  in  doing  so,  it  was  not 
so  easy  of  solution.  Even  for  a  short  trip  of  three  or  four 
weeks,  it  is  difficult  to  travel  in  any  comfort  with  less  than 
thirty  carriers  ;  tents,  beds  and  bedding,  cooking  utensils, 
crockery,  provisions,  lamps,  guns  and  ammunition  have  to 
be  taken,  and  in  loads  averaging  at  the  most  fifty  lbs.  in 
weight. 

For  a  journey  therefore  of  six  months,  during  which 
we  knew  but  vaguely  to  what  extent  we  could  re-stock 
such  provisions  as  tea,  coffee,  flour,  sugar,  and  other 
necessities,  and  as  we  were  also  obliged — since  we  were 
after  all  proceeding  on  leave  to  England — to  carry  a 
certain  quantity  of  respectable  clothing,  a  caravan  of  sixty 
porters,  which  included  the  carriers  of  drugs,  carbide, 
cameras,  books,  five  loads  of  spirit  tanks,  and  other 
apparatus  for  the  preservation  of  zoological  specimens, 
was,  for  two  travellers,  by  no  means  an  excessive 
allowance. 

Experience  in  African  travel,  moreover,  shows  that, 
without  indulging  in  luxuries,  it  is  a  mistake,  especially 
when  a  tent  has  to  be  one's  home  for  half  a  year,  to 
deprive  oneself  of  a  few  creature  comforts  for  the  sake  of 
lessening  one's  impedimenta  by  two  or  three  loads.  An 
extra  table  or  two  and  a  few  books  add  considerably  to 
one's  comfort,  and  anything  that  tends  to  alleviate  the 


TO  THE  GERMAN  BORDER 


5 


inconveniences  of  camp  life  is  worth  considering  in  its 
effect  on  temper  and  health. 

As  personal  attendants  we  took  with  us  a  couple  of 
boys  each,  including  a  cook,  with  two  gun-bearers,  one  of 
whom  knowing  Swahili  would  be  useful  as  an  interpreter, 
and  a  hunter,  especially  experienced  in  spooring  elephants. 
All  had  been  in  the  service  of  one  or  the  other  of  us  for 
some  years,  and  expressed  their  readiness  to  accompany 
us  to  any  point  from  which  they  could  be  safely  repatri- 
ated. AH  except  two  were  Wawemba,  the  exceptions  being 
natives  who  had  lived  for  some  years  in  the  Wawemba 
country. 

We  left  our  stations  in  the  middle  of  July,  and  met  at 
Kasama  towards  the  end  of  the  month,  after  journeys  of 
no  particular  incident.  The  difficulties  of  starting  on  any 
sort  of  expedition  from  an  out  of  the  way  corner  of  Africa 
are  of  course  considerably  greater  than  when  starting  from 
England,  and  the  vagaries  of  local  transport  were  suffi- 
ciently brought  home  to  us  by  the  delay  of  nearly  a  month 
in  the  arrival  of  one  of  our  machines. 

After  a  pleasant  sojourn  with  old  friends  at  Kasama, 
enlivened  by  tennis  and  golf, — an  interval  which  was 
spent  re-sorting  our  baggage  and  reducing  the  number  of 
our  caravan — we  left  at  3  P.M.  on  July  the  26th,  and  cycled 
easily  to  our  first  camp  six  miles  out,  whither  our  loads 
had  preceded  us,  accompanied  by  Mr.  R.  A.  Osborne 
(Inspector  of  Labour  Recruiting),  whose  way  thus  far  lay 
with  ours. 

The  journey  to  Abercorn  was  not  remarkable,  except 
as  affording  us  an  example  of  a  rather  extraordinary  bit 
of  scenery,  of  a  really  impossible  bit  of  road,  of  the  utter 
hopelessness  of  relying  on  the  evidence  of  raw  natives  as 
to  the  size  and  accessibility  of  a  herd  of  elephants,  and 
being  the  scene  of  the  first  bicycle  breakdown. 

The  impossibility  of  the  road  was  simply  due  to  the 
fact  that  it  had  been  recently  banked  up  and  re-made,  and 
that  its  surface  was  so  much  like  half-frozen  plough  that 
the  only  parts  that  were  rideable  were  the  gutters  at  the 
side. 


6        THROUGH  THE  HEART  OF  AFRICA 


The  unusual  scenery  was  the  saltpans  which  lie  some 
six  miles  south  of  Abercorn.  These  are  two  huge  natural 
hollow  amphitheatres  lying  side  by  side,  one  of  them  being 
remarkably  symmetrical  in  shape,  separated  by  a  narrow 
neck  of  land  on  which  runs  the  road.  When  the 
grass  is  burnt  they  are  the  resorts  of  large  quantities 
of  game. 

The  elephant  episode  occurred  about  half-way,  took 
us  off  our  line,  and  occupied  us  a  couple  of  days.  There 
were  two  beasts  still  due  on  one  of  our  licences,  and  a 
herd  being  reported  close  to  the  road  it  was  a  chance  not 
to  be  lost.  Crops  and  grain  stores  had  been  annihilated, 
and  we  were  assured  that  the  marauders  were  the  largest 
of  bull  elephants,  and,  when  we  got  to  the  scene,  that 
they  could  not  be  more  than  half  an  hour  away.  But 
the  natives'  accuracy  had  been  affected  by  a  desire  to 
avenge  the  depredation  of  their  larders  and  to  encourage 
our  aspirations.  It  took  us  a  little  more  than  half  an 
hour,  not  to  come  up  with  them,  but  to  discover  that  they 
were  miles  away,  and  that  they  consisted  of  nothing  but 
cows  and  calves,  and  we  lost  no  time  in  abandoning  the 
spoor,returning  to  the  main  road.  When  we  struck  it,  fortu- 
nately it  had  not  been  so  newly  top-dressed,  and  the  last 
day  or  two  into  Abercorn  it  was  really  good  riding.  The 
bicycle  breakdown  might  have  been  a  serious  one  if  we 
had  not  discovered  that  a  perfect  substitute  could  be  made 
from  the  end  of  a  Snider  ramrod  for  a  chain  bolt  that  was 
lost — luckily  just  on  reaching  the  village  at  which  we  were 
intending  to  camp — and  emphasised  for  the  first  time  the 
advisability  of  carrying  every  possible  combination  of  spare 
parts. 

The  last  day  into  Abercorn,  twenty-five  miles,  we  left 
our  carriers  behind,  and  got  in  by  ourselves  in  time  for 
lunch  with  Mr.  Leyer  (the  Assistant  Magistrate)  and  Mrs. 
Leyer. 

In  the  next  five  days  we  enjoyed  ourselves  so  much 
that  it  was  quite  a  wrench  to  get  started  on  our  journey 
proper.  Besides  some  excellent  lawn  tennis,  we  enjoyed 
the  rare  luxury  of  two  or  three  rides  on  donkey  and 


Macustrate's  Okfice,  Abekcorn. 


TO  THE  GERMAN  BORDER  7 


horse  back  ;  for,  with  extraordinary  skill  and  precaution, 
Mr.  Layer  had  succeeded  some  twelve  months  before 
in  bringing  up  three  of  the  latter  through  the  fly  belt 
between  Broken  Hill  and  Abercorn,  and  two  were  still 
living  and  doing  well.  The  day  before  our  departure  we 
bicycled  out  to  Kawimbe  to  the  London  Missionary 
Society  Mission  which  had  been  established  since  1887. 
The  Principal,  Mr.  Govan  Robertson,  was  away ;  but 
owing  to  the  kindness  of  Mrs.  Robertson  and  Dr.  and  Mrs. 
Wareham,  we  much  enjoyed  our  visit  to  one  of  the  oldest 
missions  in  North-Eastern  Rhodesia.  It  is  beautifully 
situated  in  the  Amambwe  country  ;  its  comfortable  dwell- 
ings and  the  magnificent  rows  of  gums  and  cypress  make 
it  one  of  the  most  attractive  and  homelike  settlements  in 
this  corner  of  Africa.  It  was  on  our  way  out  that  the 
catastrophe  occurred  that  was  seriously  to  affect  the 
comfort  of  our  travelling  throughout  German  East  Africa. 
For  some  inexplicable  reason  best  known  to  the  makers 
thereof,  when  three  miles  from  our  destination,  the  two- 
speed  gear  of  one  of  our  cycles  spontaneously  and  violently 
refused  either  to  do  its  own  work  or  let  the  other  parts 
of  the  machine  do  theirs,  and  proved,  on  a  careful  exa- 
mination, to  be  such  a  complete  wreck  that  it  was 
obvious  that  the  machine  was  no  longer  of  the  slightest 
use  until  the  broken  parts  could  be  replaced.  It  was 
5.30  P.M.  before  we  finally  despaired  of  a  remedy  ;  but 
in  spite  of  the  approaching  dusk,  and  no  small  disappoint- 
ment at  the  disaster,  there  was  nothing  for  it  but  to 
trudge  the  twelve  miles  back  to  Abercorn  on  foot.  So 
accompanied  by  our  two  dogs,  an  odd  native  or  two 
to  carry  the  bicycles  and  a  lanthorn,  we  arrived  at 
about  half-past  eight,  in  time  to  meet  on  the  outskirts 
of  the  township  a  relief  party  sent  out  to  find  us,  feeling 
ready  to  do  more  than  justice  to  the  excellent  meal  that 
we  had  kept  waiting  so  long.  It  was  not  altogether  an 
amusing  walk — chafing  as  we  were  at  the  thought  that 
the  conveniences  of  transport  had  been  reduced  for  six 
weeks  by  50  per  cent.,  the  heels  were  coming  off  a 
pair  of  locally  bought  cycling  boots,  and  the  roughnesses 


8        THROUGH  THE  HEART  OF  AFRICA 


of  the  road  were  almost  worse  in  the  flickering  gleams 
of  a  stable  lanthorn  than  they  would  have  been  in  the 
dark  ;  but  as  we  neared  the  end  of  it,  and  began  to  get 
used  to  the  situation,  we  could  not  fail  to  enjoy  the 
eerie  stillness  of  the  African  night  and  the  faint  glitter 
of  ten  million  stars  on  the  waters  of  Lake  Chila  down 
on  our  left  as  we  turned  the  last  corner  and  up  the  hill 
into  Abercorn.  The  next  day  a  cable  was  despatched 
to  the  makers  in  London  ordering  a  new  mechanism  to 
meet  us  at  Entebbe,  and  we  left  Abercorn  on  the  6th  of 
August  prepared  to  make  the  best  of  one  bicycle  between 
us  until  we  reached  Uganda. 

As  far  as  Abercorn,  we  had  taken  carriers  from  our 
own  districts  ;  beyond  that  the  "  Epidemic  and  Contagious 
Diseases  Regulations  "  forbids  them  to  travel,  so  a  new 
gang  had  to  be  procured  to  take  us  to  the  German  border 
(about  20  miles)  and  here  we  were  met  by  our  first 
German  East  African  carriers,  whom  the  Officer  in  Charge 
at  Bismarckburg  had  kindly  procured  for  us.  These  men 
would  not  hear  of  going  with  us  as  far  as  Mwanza,  so 
we  had  to  be  content  with  engaging  them  for  the  first 
section  to  Tabora  only.  Close  to  the  west  of  the  point 
at  which  the  path  to  Bismarckburg  crosses  the  Kalambo 
River,  which  forms  part  of  the  boundary  with  German 
East  Africa,  is  one  of  the  most  striking  little  waterfalls  in 
the  world.  The  river  is  but  a  streamlet,  some  40  to  50 
feet  across,  and  in  the  dry  season  has  but  a  slender  volume 
of  water,  but  the  mere  depth  of  the  narrow  gorge  into 
which  it  tumbles,  700  feet  sheer  drop,  lifts  it  out  of  the 
insignificance  suggested  by  its  size. 

For  some  miles  after  leaving  Abercorn  (which  is 
5000  feet  above  sea-level)  we  had  been  steadily  descending, 
when  we  reached  the  end  of  a  long  ridge  from  which, 
through  the  wooded  clefts  to  our  left,  we  had  really  our 
first  sight  of  the  waters  of  Lake  Tanganyika,  and  saw 
some  800  or  900  feet  below  us  a  little  village  nestling  in 
a  smooth  fertile  valley  hardly  a  mile  broad.  It  seemed 
incredible  that  close  at  hand  there  could  be  room  for  so 
huge  a  drop  twixt  that  and  the  level  of  the  great  lake. 


TO  THE  GERMAN   BORDER  9 


The  wooded  ridges  at  either  side  increased  the  deception, 
and  gave  no  clue  of  what  they  hid. 

The  descent  of  the  gorge  itself,  though  possible,  is 
tedious,  and  as  we  had  no  time  to  make  it  we  contented 
ourselves  by  lying  flat  on  a  dry  spot  on  the  lip  of  the 
fall  watching  the  baboons  skipping  away  up  the  steep  cliff 
sides  and  the  marabout  storks  circling  about  like  swallows 
below  us,  and  trying  to  realise  the  tremendous  depth  to 
the  pool  below — insignificant  enough  at  that  height,  but, 
as  a  matter  of  fact,  as  yet  unfathomed.  The  hills  at  either 
side  of  the  gorge  rise,  just  west  of  the  cascade,  to  a  height 
of  some  400  or  500  feet,  giving  the  gorge  in  some  places 
a  total  depth  of  nearly  a  quarter  of  a  mile.  Narrow  at 
first,  it  widens  considerably  at  the  top,  and  keeps  for  some 
distance  an  average  breadth  of  some  200  yards. 

No  photograph  had  been  previously  taken  that  will 
show  the  whole  height  of  the  cascade,  and  none  that  lacks 
colour  will  ever  do  full  justice  to  its  beauty.  Ours  was 
secured  at  a  distance  of  from  half  to  three-quarters  of  a 
mile,  from  a  precarious  foothold  on  the  face  of  a  curve 
in  the  gorge.  It  shows  the  whole  700  feet  of  the  cascade, 
the  pool  being  just  visible  beyond  the  projecting  terraces 
of  cliff. 

The  following  morning,  after  dismissing  our  Abercorn 
carriers  and  allotting  our  loads  to  the  new  gang,  we  crossed 
the  boundary,  and  began  the  journey  through  German 
East  Africa. 


II 


BISMARCKBURG  AND  LYANGALILE 

Lake  Tanganyika— Bismarckburg — Life  in  a  German  Fort — Journey  to 
Mwazye — The  French  Fathers — Notes  on  the  Watwaki  rulers  in 
Lufipa — Religious  beliefs  of  the  Wakuluwe. 

Some  ten  miles  along  a  winding  path  through  waterless 
forest  and  over  stony  switchback  hills  brought  us  to  the 
ridge  overlooking  the  blue  waters  of  Tanganyika,  and 
from  some  rocks  by  the  path,  on  which  we  rested,  we  had 
a  magnificent  view  of  Bismarckburg  Bay,  and  could  see 
across  the  lake — which  is  narrow  at  this  point — to  the 
Belgian  side.  The  bay  is  practically  a  replica  of  Torbay  : 
the  contour  is  almost  identical,  and  the  general  appearance 
very  similar,  though  on  a  grander  scale,  albeit  instead  of 
civilisation  there  is  nothing  visible  but  untamed  nature, 
for  the  fort  itself  is  just  hidden  round  a  corner,  and  even 
the  telegraph  wire  to  Ujiji  and  the  roads  leading  to  that 
port  and  to  Kilimatinde  and  Neu  Langenburg  do  not 
obtrude  upon  the  view. 

The  descent  was  precipitous  and  tiring,  and  it  was 
fully  an  hour  before  we  reached  the  little  valley  at  our 
feet,  which  formed  a  delta  of  refreshing  green  fertilised 
by  the  waters  of  a  mountain  stream  whose  winding  course 
was  traceable  for  miles  away  to  the  north-east.  After  a 
wash  and  brush  up  at  the  stream,  we  turned  to  the  broad 
macadamised  road  leading  away  on  our  left  up  to  the  fort. 

This  occupies  the  end  of  a  small  promontory  which 
rises  some  fifty  feet  sheer  out  of  the  lake,  and  is  cut  off 
from  the  mainland  by  a  loopholed  wall  stretching  right 
across  from  cliff  to  cliff,  in  the  centre  of  which  is  the  large 
double  gate  that  gives  the  only  access  to  within. 

At  the  gate  we  were  held  up  for  two  minutes  by  a 
pompous  native  sentry,  who  with  difficulty  roused  himself 


BISMARCKBURG  AND  LYANGALILE  ii 


from  the  indolent  ease  with  which  he  and  his  colleagues 
were  enjoying  the  luxury  of  cheap  cigarettes  and  deck 
chairs — a  peculiar  sensation  for  us — until  he  received  some 
assurance  or  other  from  within  that  he  might  let  us  pass. 

Once  inside,  we  were  courteously  and  hospitably 
received  by  the  Acting  Commandant,  Lieutenant  Wach, 
with  whom  we  were  fortunately  able  to  converse  through 
the  medium  of  French.  He  kindly  provided  us  with 
most  comfortable  quarters  within  the  fort,  made  us  guests 
at  his  mess  as  long  as  we  were  there,  and  two  quite 
pleasant  days  were  spent  there  with  a  German  journalist 
for  a  fellow-guest. 

We  welcomed  the  opportunity  afforded  us  by  the 
courtesy  of  our  host  of  learning  something  of  the  details 
of  official  life  and  routine.  At  a  station  like  Bismarck- 
burg,  which  now  holds  the  position  of  a  sub-station  to 
Ujiji,  the  duties  are  far  from  onerous.  The  customs  work 
is  not  large,  the  trial  of  native  cases  occupies  little  more 
than  half  an  hour  per  week — the  consequence  of  a  system 
under  which  the  greater  part  of  native  litigation  is  dealt 
with  by  the  JVa/i  or  Government-appointed  district  head- 
man, who  has  the  power  to  grant  or  refuse  to  applicants 
the  right  to  come  before  the  white  man's  court,  just  as 
he  pleases. 

Postal  and  telegraph  business  is  conducted  by  non- 
commissioned officers  and  native  clerks.  But  little 
district  travelling  is  done,  and  the  irreducible  minimum 
required  is  regarded  as  irksome.  Tennis  courts,  rifle 
ranges,  and  other  means  of  recreation  are  conspicuous 
by  their  absence,  and  the  life  of  the  occupants  of 
Bismarckburg,  whose  sole  form  of  exercise  seemed  to  be 
a  short  stroll  at  sundown  outside  the  walls  of  their  fort, 
did  not  impress  us  as  very  exhilarating. 

The  methods  in  vogue  in  this  district  are  those  of  the 
old  military  administration,  which  is  little  more  than  a 
military  occupation,  and  the  lack  of  keenness  amongst 
the  officials  is  scarcely  to  be  wondered  at.  They  are 
Officers  seconded  from  the  German  army  for  two  years 
duty  in  Africa,  which  count  as  four  in  their  total  service  ; 


12      THROUGH  THE  HEART  OF  AFRICA 


they  spend  some  four  months  traveUing  between  the 
coast  and  their  stations,  and  possibly  another  two  on 
transfer  to  a  different  district  ;  so  that  the  average  time 
spent  in  a  country  and  in  duties  that  are  equally  strange  to 
them  probably  averages  rather  less  than  more  than  twenty 
months.  Hence  it  is  not  surprising  that  the  majority 
of  them  look  forward  to  nothing  but  the  day  that  they 
will  leave  Africa  for  good  to  return  to  the  Fatherland. 

Before  leaving  Bismarckburg  we  took  an  opportunity 
of  changing  part  of  our  English  gold  into  German  cur- 
rency (rupees  and  heller  of  which  lOo  go  to  the  rupee), 
and  found  that  while  the  official  exchange  was  Rs.15  the 
Indian  traders  were  willing,  and  even  anxious,  to  give  us 
as  much  as  Rs.17  for  ^i,  as  English  gold  was  much 
sought  after  for  purposes  of  trading  principally  in  ivory 
in  the  Congo. 

After  completing  these  financial  transactions  partly  by 
means  of  Ki-Swahili,  but  chiefly  by  signs,  and  persuading 
our  new  carriers  that  their  demand  for  a  month's  food 
allowance  in  advance  was  scarcely  reasonable  for  a  trip 
which  was  probably  going  to  take  but  three  weeks,  we 
left  for  Rukwa  at  noon  of  loth  August.  We  had  decided 
to  make  this  detour  partly  on  account  of  the  Rukwa 
Valley  being  but  little  known,  and  partly  in  the  hope  of 
being  able  to  obtain  some  specimens  of  the  local  fish, 
none  of  which  had  hitherto  found  a  place  in  any  European 
museum.  When  bidding  us  farewell,  our  hosts  were 
deeply  concerned  on  our  behalf  when  they  learnt  that 
our  next  stage  was  going  to  be  across  country,  away  from 
the  "  burra-burra,"  or  main  road,  and  the  indispensable 
conveniences  of  regular  camps. 

Between  here  and  Rukwa  we  were  travelling  amongst 
mixed  tribes  all  known  merely  as  "  Shenzis  "  to  the  local 
official,  to  distinguish  them  from  the  Swahili  or  pseudo- 
Swahili,  through  whom  they  are  administered  ;  and  we 
were  much  interested  to  learn  from  a  Walungu  chief  named 
Kaleka,  at  whose  village  we  camped  three  days  out,  that 
his  people  were  akin  to  the  section  similarly  named  under 
Chitoshi   living  at   the    south-west   of  Tanganyika  in 


jMwazye  Mission. 


KlFANVri.A.   OI  K   MI  NVAMI'ALA   CLW   KOV.   HICYCl.E   KOV  ANI.  OIllKR 
(iKRMAN    IIasT  Ai-RICA.\  CARRIERS. 


BISMARCKBURG  AND  LYANGALILE  13 


Northern  Rhodesia,  and  recognised  Chitoshi  as  one  of 
their  great  chiefs.  We  found  too  that  he  was  able  freely 
to  converse  with  and  understand  us  in  Chiwemba,  the 
language  of  our  Wawemba  of  Northern  Rhodesia.  This 
was  an  interesting  piece  of  evidence  of  some  forgotten 
migration  of  which  we  could  learn  no  details,  for,  between 
this  and  the  other  section  there  is  now  a  considerable 
wedge  of  entirely  different  tribes. 

Between  this  and  Mwazye  Mission  in  the  Lyangalile 
hills  which  was  our  next  objective,  the  country  was  dry, 
badly  watered,  with  a  poor  clay  soil,  and  clothed  wath 
scanty  timber  and  thorn  bushes,  but  gradually  improving 
as  we  reached  the  higher  altitudes  in  the  immediate 
neighbourhood  of  the  French  settlement  ;  but  our  other- 
wise dull  passage  through  this  arid  region  was  consider- 
ably alleviated  by  the  courtesy  and  attention  paid  to  us 
by  the  natives.  At  every  village  at  or  near  which  we 
camped  for  the  night,  the  headman  lost  no  time  not  only 
in  pointing  out  what  he  considered  to  be  the  best  spot  for 
pitching  our  tents,  but  also  in  summoning  his  people,  who 
willingly  and  cheerfully  first  cleared  a  convenient  camping 
ground  with  their  hoes,  and  then  fetched  an  ample  supply 
of  water  for  ourselves,  our  staff,  and  our  carriers.  We 
found  this  kind  of  reception  to  be  the  rule  rather  than  the 
exception  all  the  way  to  Tabora,  and  though  one  might 
expect  it  from  one's  own  natives,  it  was  a  pleasant  sur- 
prise to  find  it  extended  to  total  strangers  in  a  foreign 
territory. 

Among  natives  of  so  friendly  a  disposition  we  had  but 
little  difficulty  in  finding  our  way  when  off  the  beaten 
tracks  ;  guides  from  point  to  point  were  provided  as  soon 
as  asked  for,  and,  although  in  the  true  African  spirit  they 
occasionally  attempted  to  take  advantage  of  our  ignorance 
of  local  topography,  they  did  their  duty  passing  well 
according  to  their  lights. 

On  nearing  Mwazye  Mission,  we  thought  it  as  well  to 
announce  our  visit  by  a  messenger  in  advance,  and  when 
within  a  few  hours  of  that  post  we  were  agreeably  surprised 
to  meet  our  messenger  returning  with  a  cordial  note  of 


14      THROUGH  THE   HEART  OF  AFRICA 


welcome  from  an  old  friend,  Pere  Guilleme,  who  had  been 
for  many  years  associated  with  the  Nyasa  diocese,  and  had 
been  for  some  time  holding  the  post  of  visitetir  in  the 
Tanganyika  District.  We  arrived  at  about  ten  o'clock  on 
Saturday,  and  rested  the  whole  of  the  following  day. 

Our  visit  was  one  of  considerable  interest.  This  post 
of  the  White  Fathers  of  Algiers  has,  owing  to  its  magni- 
ficent position,  been  adopted  as  a  sanatorium  to  which 
members  of  other  branches  in  need  of  rest  are  allowed  to 
repair,  in  order  to  recruit  their  health.  And  besides  the 
permanent  staff  there  were  one  or  two  old  African  residents 
from  less  healthy  stations  who  were  benefiting  by  their 
sojourn  here. 

The  invalids  are  by  no  means  entirely  free  from  the 
discipline  of  their  order,  and  daily  routine  imposed  upon 
them  is  quite  in  keeping  with  the  spirit  inspiring  a  com- 
munity that  has  won  such  universal  regard  as  much  by  the 
simplicity  and  austerity  of  its  members'  lives,  as  by  their 
wise  and  patient  handling  of  the  difficult  problem  of 
grafting  Christianity  upon  heathendom.  An  hour  or  two 
"  temps  libre  "  is  permitted  in  the  course  of  the  day,  and  the 
tone  of  the  regulations  suggests  that  it  would  be  the  height 
of  impropriety  were  any  of  the  sufferers  to  succumb  to 
their  ailments  at  any  other  time. 

The  soil  is  as  fertile  as  the  site  is  well  chosen,  and 
we  spent  an  enjoyable  afternoon  in  an  inspection  of  the 
gardens,  fruit  plantations,  and  wheat  fields  on  the  slope 
below  the  house  and  buildings,  which  are  finely  con- 
structed of  stone  with  tile  roofs. 

The  natives,  who  are  Wafipa,  with  a  few  Walungu 
emigrants,  are  an  unsophisticated  lot,  and  were  wildly 
excited  at  our  elementary  gyrations  on  the  bicycle,  which 
was  a  thing  that  they  had  never  seen  before.  Their 
curiosity  at  the  arrival  of  strangers  was  amusing  rather 
than  offensive,  but  grew  a  little  embarrassing  at  times. 
For  an  hour  or  two  after  our  arrival,  they  were  not  content 
with  crowding  round  on  the  verandah  three  or  four  deep, 
and  peering  into  the  rooms  that  any  of  us  had  entered,  but 
the  opening  of  a  door  from  within  generally  disclosed  the 


BISMARCKBURG  AND   LYANGALILE  15 


presence  of  at  least  one  piccanin  whose  eye  had  been 
ghied  to  the  key-hole. 

The  history  of  the  Watwaki,  the  rulers  of  the  Wafipa 
people,  as  well  as  the  customs  and  religious  belief  of  a 
neighbouring  tribe  called  the  Wakuluwe,  presents  points  of 
exceptional  ethnographical  interest,  of  which  owing  to  the 
kindness  of  Pere  Wyckhaert,  Superior  of  the  Mission,  we 
were  able  to  make  a  careful  record,  and  publish  with  his 
approval. 

The  Walipa  tribe  forms  with  its  offshoots  one  of  the 
most  numerous  and  important  in  this  part  of  the  continent, 
and  covers  a  large  area  to  the  south  of  Tabora  and  Ujiji, 
down  to  the  Saisi  River  (which,  rising  in  British  territory 
near  Abercorn,  flows  into  the  south-west  of  Lake  Ikwa). 
It  is  chiefly  remarkable  for  the  fact  that  the  rulers  are 
entirely  distinct  in  origin  to  the  tribe  whom  they  rule, 
being  of  Galla  (Gala)  or  Hamitic  stock. 

With  regard  to  the  inhabitants  of  Uganda,  Sir  Harry 
Johnston  says  {The  Uganda  Protectorate,  1902,  vol.  ii. 
p.  484)  that  it  consists  of  five  main  stocks  :  (i)  Pygmy — 
prognathous  type  ;  (2)  Bantu  ;  (3)  Nile  Negro  ;  (4) 
Masai  ;  (5)  Hamite ;  and  of  the  last  named  he 
says : — 

"  The  fifth  and  last  among  these  main  stocks  is  the 
Hamitic,  which  is  negroid  rather  than  negro.  This  is  the 
division  to  which  the  modern  Somali  and  Gala  belong,  and 
of  which  the  basis  of  the  population  of  ancient  Egypt 
consisted.  These  Hamites  are  represented  by  the  remark- 
able Bahima  aristocracy  of  the  western  portions  of  the 
Uganda  Protectorate,  and  possibly  by  certain  tribes  at  the 
north  end  of  Lake  Rudolph."  And  again  he  writes  of  the 
"  light-coloured  Gala  race  of  almost  Caucasian  stock  .  ,  . 
which  in  the  modified  and  more  negroid  form  . . .  constitutes 
the  aristocracy  to-day  of  all  land  between  the  Victoria  Nile 
in  the  north  and  Tanganyika  in  the  south."  And  in  the 
same  writer's  Introduction  to  another  book  (Cunningham's 
Uganda  and  its  People,  1905,  p.  xi)  he  says  of  "the 
Hamitic  invader  and  civiliser  of  Negro  Africa,"  "  I  have 
also  traced  this  element  in  lessening  potency  down  the 


i6      THROUGH  THE  HEART  OF  AFRICA 


west  coast  of  Tanganyika  to  regions  north  of  the 
Zambezi." 

Sir  Harry  Johnston  visited  Rukwa  himself  in  1889, 
and  has  informed  us  that  he  noticed  this  Hamitic  family 
of  Watwaki  at  the  time,  but  neither  in  his  books  nor  in 
any  other  pubHshed  documents  can  we  find  any  record  of 
the  Hamite  influence  at  the  south-east  of  Tanganyika,  so 
that  ethnographical  students  will  feel  grateful  to  Pere 
Wyckhaert  for  allowing  us  to  make  use  of  his  researches. 

Sometime  in  the  middle  of  the  eighteenth  century  a 
woman  called  Unda,  accompanied  by  two  daughters  and 
a  small  retinue,  came  from  some  country  to  the  north 
and  stayed  with  the  chief  of  Lulungu  at  the  south  end  of 
Lake  Tanganyika,  They  were  of  nearly  pure  Hamitic 
stock  and  very  light  coloured.  The  chief  of  Lufipa  re- 
sided near  by  at  Milanzi,  and  was  acquainted  with  an 
ancient  prophecy  as  to  the  advent  of  these  women,  in 
consequence  of  which  he  informed  his  wife  that  if  any 
"  white  "  women  came  to  Milanzi  they  were  on  no  account 
to  be  allowed  to  sit  in  his  royal  chair  ;  as,  were  they  to 
do  so,  the  sovereignty  of  the  Wafipa  would  pass  from  him 
to  them.  One  day,  when  he  was  absent  on  a  shooting 
expedition,  this  Hamitic  woman  Unda  arrived  with  her 
daughters,  and  asked  the  Fipa  chief's  wife  to  get  her  his 
royal  chair.  Either  without  thinking,  or  overawed  by  the 
stronger  character  of  the  visitor,  their  hostess  complied 
with  the  request,  and  on  the  return  of  the  chief  from  his 
hunting  Unda  was  discovered  by  him  sitting  on  the  royal 
seat  of  state.  Immediately  he  perceived  this  he  abdicated, 
and  Unda  became  chief  of  the  Wafipa.  What  the  chief 
said  to  his  wife  the  legend  does  not  record,  but  the  Wafipa 
appear  to  have  accepted  the  change  in  rulers  without 
question. 

Unda  belonged  to  a  tribe  known  as  Watwaki,  and  she 
found  husbands  for  her  daughters  from  a  tribe  called 
Wanika,  immigrants  from  the  south  reputed  to  have  been 
driven  north  by  the  Angoni.  Before  she  died  she  gave  an 
order  that  the  descendants  of  her  daughters  were  never  to 
marry  outside  their  own  families,  under  penalty  of  death, 


BISMARCKBURG  AND  LYANGALILE  17 

and  so  for  one  hundred  and  fifty  years  or  more  the 
descendants  of  these  two  Watwaki  and  their  Wanika 
husbands  have  intermarried — first  cousins  and  even  brothers 
and  sisters  (the  analogy  to  the  marriages  of  the  Pharaohs 
is  curious),  and  there  has  been  no  infusion  of  fresh  blood 
in  the  family  from  that  day  to  this,  though  now  that 
almost  all  the  descendants  have  embraced  Christianity  the 
rule  is  being  broken  :  and  it  is  none  too  soon,  for  the 
continual  in-breeding  has  led  to  sterility  ;  though  it  does 
not  appear  to  have  affected  the  mental  powers  of  the 
offspring. 

At  the  time  of  her  arrival  in  Lufipa  Unda  carried  a 
stone  on  her  back  as  a  woman  carries  a  child,  and  this 
stone  was  deeply  reverenced  by  the  VVafipa.  It  was 
placed  by  Unda  on  the  top  of  Milanzi  mountain,  the  old 
chief  of  Lufipa,  who  had  abdicated,  being  appointed 
guardian  of  the  hill,  a  position  which  his  descendants  still 
hold.  The  village  at  Milanzi,  moreover,  is  never  moved, 
as  are  the  surrounding  villages,  but  is  kept  on  the  original 
site  as  being  the  residence  of  the  guardian  of  the  sacred 
mountain  ;  nor  are  any  rectangular  huts  allowed  to  exist 
within  its  confines. 

The  country  of  Lufipa  thus  acquired  by  Unda  extends 
from  Karema  on  Lake  Tanganyika  in  the  north  (about 
7°  S.)  to  the  Saisi  River  in  the  south  (between  8°  and  9°  S.), 
and  from  Tanganyika  in  the  west  to  the  border  of  Rukwa 
in  the  east.  Some  time  after  the  advent  of  Unda  the 
Watwaki  rulers  divided  into  two  factions.  The  split 
occurred  on  the  death  of  one  of  the  immediate  successors 
of  Msire,  who  was  the  first  grandchild  of  Unda's  to  be 
born  in  the  country.  This  chief  had  two  sisters,  each  of 
whom  was  ambitious,  and  as  each  had  a  son  the  chief 
foresaw  trouble  as  to  the  succession,  and  consequently 
decided  to  nominate  one  of  the  two  as  his  successor. 
Unknown  to  his  nephews,  he  decided  to  test  them,  and  on 
different  days  sent  each  to  herd  his  cattle,  instructing  them 
to  watch  the  animals  carefully,  as  one  of  the  cows  was 
about  to  calve.  The  first,  known  as  Wakukatanga,  idled 
and  took  no  trouble  to  tend  the  cattle,  as  his  uncle  ascer- 

B 


i8      THROUGH  THE  HEART  OF  AFRICA 


tained  by  means  of  a  spy,  and  on  his  return,  when  asked 
to  fetch  a  chair  for  the  old  chief,  picked  up  the  one  nearest 
to  him,  and  passed  it  in  a  very  casual  manner.  The  second, 
Wakuire,  herded  the  animals  very  well,  and  towards 
sunset  drove  them  back,  and  reported  to  his  uncle  that  the 
cow  had  not  calved.  When  asked  to  fetch  a  chair,  he 
proceeded  to  bring  the  royal  seat,  and  in  consequence 
of  his  behaviour  was  nominated  as  the  chief's  successor,  a 
choice  that  was  acquiesced  in  by  the  tribe. 

Wakukatanga's  mother,  however,  formed  a  faction 
against  Wakuire,  and  when  he  succeeded  she  captured  the 
capital  Sumbwanga  (in  the  country  called  Kanse),  and 
very  nearly  succeeded  in  capturing  the  young  chief,  who, 
however,  made  good  his  escape  to  the  hills  of  Lyangalile. 
After  a  time  his  cousin,  the  usurper,  Wakukatanga,  heard 
that  he  was  there,  and  promptly  sent  emissaries  to  capture 
or  kill  him  ;  but  his  friends  placed  Wakuire  in  an  old  hut 
such  as  is  used  as  a  shelter  for  the  dying,  and  placed  in 
it  some  decaying  meat  and  skins,  so  that  when  his  cousin's 
messengers  arrived  they  thought,  from  the  smell,  that  he  was 
very  ill  and  returned  to  Wakukatanga,  informing  him  that 
his  cousin  was  dying.  On  their  departure  Wakuire  went 
to  the  chief  of  the  Walungu  and  asked  for  help  to  regain 
his  capital,  Sumbwanga,  and  his  country.  The  necessary 
assistance  being  given  him,  he  defeated  and  drove  out 
Wakukatanga,  who,  in  his  turn,  tied  to  Lyangalile,  and  there 
founded  a  new  branch  of  the  family,  whose  descendants 
rule  in  that  part  to-day,  the  present  ruler  being  Sa  (the 
daughter  of  Pilula),  who  succeeded  another  Sa,  who  died 
in  1910.  But  the  senior  branch  at  Sumbwanga  is  ruled 
over  by  Kiatu,  the  son  of  Kapufi,  a  descendant  of  Wakuire. 

There  has  been  nearly  incessant  warfare  between  the 
two  branches,  but  whenever  a  male  in  either  branch  has 
lacked  a  bride  he  has  sought  and  obtained  one  from  the 
hostile  branch  rather  than  break  the  ordinance  of  Unda 
as  to  marrying  outside  the  family.  On  only  three 
occasions  have  the  two  branches  united : — (i)  During  the 
Angoni  invasion  between  1850—60.  The  Angoni  are  known 
locally  as  the  Wa  Tuta,  after  their  leader  Tuta,  and  this 


BISMARCKBURG  AND  LYANGALILE  19 


invasion  formed  part  of  the  great  migration  of  this  tribe, 
who  crossed  the  Zambezi  in  1825  and  settled  under 
Mombera  and  Mpeseni  in  Nyasaland  and  North-Eastern 
Rhodesia,  and  also  penetrated  as  far  as  the  south-east  of 
the  Victoria  Nyanza.  (ii.)  During  the  raids  and  incursions 
of  the  Wawemba,  which  took  place  up  to  about  1 890.  And 
(iii)  during  the  war  with  Kimaraunga,  a  filibuster  whose 
meteoric  career  deserves  more  than  a  passing  comment, 
forming  as  it  does  a  good  example  of  the  romance  that 
a  strong  man  inevitably  brings  to  the  pages  of  history. 

This  remarkable  man  was  the  son  of  a  slave  who 
had  been  a  great  elephant  hunter,  and,  having  acquired 
considerable  wealth  from  the  sale  of  ivory,  purchased  his 
freedom.  On  his  death  Kimaraunga  and  his  brother 
could  not  agree  as  to  the  disposition  of  their  father's  pro- 
perty, so  the  brother  went  to  a  country  called  Luwende 
or  Lukawende,  on  the  east  of  Tanganyika,  between  5° 
and  6°  S.,  and  Kimaraunga  settled  between  Lake  Ikwa 
and  Lyangalile.  He  managed  to  get  together  an  army  of 
sorts,  and  captured  a  considerable  tract  of  land,  and  then 
made  an  alliance  with  the  junior  chief  of  the  Wafipa — the 
ruler  in  Lyangahle — and,  together,  they  succeeded  in 
defeating  the  senior  chief  in  Kanse.  But  shortly  after 
this  Kimaraunga  and  his  ally  fell  out,  and  the  two  Fipa 
chiefs  made  an  alliance  and  defeated  him  on  the  plains 
of  Rukwa. 

The  adventurer  then  fortified  a  stronghold  on  the 
west  of  Lake  Ikwa,  in  which  no  one  dared  to  attack  him, 
and  eventually  captured  the  country  of  the  Wakuluwe  on 
the  lower  Saisi  River,  and  became  a  terror  to  the  country- 
side. But  about  1900  a  German  officer  cut  short  his 
career  by  defeating  him  and  making  him  prisoner.  At 
Sumbwanga,  en  route  to  Bismarckburg,  he  was  guarded 
in  a  hut,  but  succeeded  in  getting  out,  and,  knocking  down 
the  sentry,  made  off,  but  was  shot  by  the  officer. 

In  1909  the  representatives  of  both  sections  of  the 
Watwaki  were  converted  to  Christianity,  and  the  feud  that 
began  with  Wakuire  and  Wakukatanga  has  come  to  an 
end. 


20      THROUGH  THE  HEART  OF  AFRICA 


The  Wakuluwe  who  have  been  referred  to  above  as 
being  conquered  by  Kimaraunga  possess  remarkably  ad- 
vanced theistic  beliefs  which  are  well  worth  recording  as 
differing  in  man)'  ways  from  the  superstitions  of  the  neigh- 
bouring tribes.  These  Wakuluwe  are  a  branch  of  the 
Wachipeta  who  live  on  Lake  Nyasa  and  moved  to  the 
Saisi  Valley  in  the  footsteps  of  the  Angoni  between  i860 
and  1870. 

They  believe,  firstly,  in  a  god  Ngidwe,  a  creator,  and, 
as  is  generally  the  case  in  this  part  of  Africa,  consider  that, 
having  created  the  world,  he  had  not  bothered  much 
about  it  since.  The  belief  is  essentially  a  monotheistic 
one,  as  the  spirits  that  are  referred  to  later  are  not  con- 
sidered divine  in  the  same  sense  as  Ngidwe.  Secondly, 
they  believe  in  evil  spirits,  of  which  only  one  has  a  name, 
Mwawa,  of  whose  origin  there  are  two  accounts,  some 
holding  that  he  was  always  an  evil  spirit  ;  whereas  others 
contend  that  Mivawa  was  originally  a  servant  of  Ngulwes 
who  got  into  trouble  and  ran  away.  Cf.  Milton,  "  Satan, 
thou  wast  not  ever  thus." 

To  this  spirit  is  attributed  the  power  to  enter  into 
people's  bodies  and  possess  them,  the  persons  so  possessed 
not  being  considered  as  evil  in  themselves,  like  waloshi,  who 
are  in  league  with  the  evil  spirits.  Mwawa  can  take  human 
form,  male  and  female,  but  generally  assumes  the  shape 
of  a  dog  and  runs  about  in  the  villages,  stealing  and  biting, 
and  any  one  who  beats  him  when  in  this  shape  is  sure  to 
suffer  severely  for  it.  Another  favourite  form  for  him  to 
assume  is  that  of  a  mouse,  because  in  this  shape  he  has 
the  easiest  access  to  the  huts.  To  him  is  attributed  the 
introduction  of  smallpox.  Next  in  importance  come  the 
Malesa  (spirits  of  the  dead),  also  called  Fisingwa  (shades), 
who  are  really  intermediaries  and  are  not  worshipped,  but 
are  appealed  to  convey  prayers  to  Ngidwe,  who  is  never 
prayed  to  directly.  Offerings  are  made  to  them  which 
are  placed  in  the  usual  little  spirit  huts.  The  Malesa  are 
considered  responsible  for  death  because  when  they  are 
lonely  they  come  back  to  earth  to  seek  a  companion. 

There  is  a  drink  called  Lukansu — a  narcotic  of  some 


BISMARCKBURG  AND  LYANGALILE  21 


kind — connected  with  the  cult  of  Malesa,  which  is  ad- 
ministered by  the  witch  doctor,  and  which  is  supposed  to 
give  the  drinker  certain  supernatural  powers,  such  as  in- 
vulnerability, superhuman  strength,  and  the  power  to  know 
and  see  things  withheld  from  ordinary  people. 

There  are  two  different  accounts  of  the  Creation  :  one 
being  that  a  man  and  a  woman  fell  down  from  heaven  to- 
gether, being  provided  with  an  axe,  a  hoe,  bellows,  and  a 
few  seeds  for  sowing,  everything  else  having  been  created 
previously.  These  two  were  provided  with  a  soul  (mwenzo) 
which  remains  with  them  after  death — i.e.  when  they 
became  fisingwa  and  when  they  revisit  the  earth  (iikiwa) — 
but  to  start  with  they  were  immortal.  This  original  couple, 
like  Adam  and  Eve,  were  absolutely  innocent,  but  know- 
ledge did  not  come  to  them  as  the  result  of  temptation 
and  fall. 

Nec  primo  muliere  concubare  homo  concupiebat,  at 
cum  non  corpori  suo  illam  corpore  simili  uti  videretur, 
vulnere  affligi  illam  putabat.  Itaque  vulnus  medicare 
conabatur  dum  Ngulwe  tandem  in  terram  latus  errorem 
demonstravit. 

The  other  version  is  that  the  man  and  woman 
descended  from  heaven  without  the  implements  and  seeds. 
They  too  lacked  any  sexual  feeling,  so  Ngiilwe  caused  the 
woman  to  bring  forth  a  child,  called  Kanga  Masala,  from 
her  knee.  This  child  had  great  wisdom  and  grew  up 
very  quickly,  and  taught  his  parents  how  to  make  hoes 
and  other  implements,  and  also,  feeling  in  need  of  a 
helpmeet,  explained  to  them  the  relationship  between 
man  and  wife.  By  him,  too,  they  were  instructed  in  the 
weaving  of  cloth  wherewith  to  clothe  themselves. 

The  "  fall "  is  divided  into  two  parts — woman's  fall, 
which  brought  work  into  the  world,  and  the  fall  of  man, 
to  which  death  is  due.  The  first  woman  used  to  take  a 
single  grain  of  millet  (about  the  size  of  an  ordinary  pin- 
head),  and  put  it  in  a  pot  covered  by  a  flat  basket,  and  it 
was  turned  into  sufficient  porridge  for  her  needs  and  her 
husband's.  When  her  daughter  grew  up,  the  mother 
told  her  to  take  a  single  grain,  and,  having  ground  it, 


22      THROUGH  THE   HEART  OF  AFRICA 


place  it  under  the  basket  ;  but  the  daughter,  not  knowing 
that  her  mother  had  done  this  for  a  long  time,  thought 
she  must  be  mad  to  imagine  that  one  grain  could  produce 
the  required  quantity  of  food,  so  she  set  to  work  and 
ground  a  whole  basket  of  millet.  The  mother  discovered 
this  and  cursed  her,  saying  that  for  the  future  they  would 
always  be  obliged  to  work  hard  and  grind  all  their  flour. 
The  fall  of  man  came  about  in  this  way  : — Ngulwe  had 
told  the  man  that  he  was  not  to  look  for  medicines  among 
plants,  nor  on  the  ground,  nor  anywhere  else,  but  that  if 
any  illness  occurred  he  would  cure  it,  and  that  man  and  his 
offspring  should  never  die.  One  day  one  of  the  children 
was  ill,  but,  remembering  Ngulwe  s  instructions,  the  man 
did  not  seek  any  medicine.  The  following  day,  however, 
seeing  that  the  child  was  not  better,  he  went  out  into  the 
bush  and  secured  some  herbs,  which  he  gave  to  the  child 
and  cured  it :  but  A^giilwe  was  angry,  and  told  the  man 
that  since  he  preferred  to  find  remedies  for  himself  he 
could  do  so,  but  that  his  immunity  from  mortal  diseases 
would  be  removed  and  that  he  and  his  descendants 
would  die. 

The  classification  of  sins  is  rather  an  elaborate  one, 
and  presents  many  unusual  features,  one  of  the  most 
noticeable  being  that  they  are  divided  into  two  classes 
— Mpondo,  crime,  and  Tustnza,  petty  offences  or  misde- 
meanours. Neither  kind  had  anything  to  do  with  the 
soul,  and  man  could  be  entirely  purged  of  them  by 
confession  or  punishment,  leaving  the  sinner  none  the 
worse  for  what  he  had  done. 

The  sins  {inpondo)  are  three  in  number  : — 

(1)  Sorcery,  being  in  league  with  Mwawa. 

(2)  Procuring  abortion, 

(3)  Adultery,  and  the  desire  for  incest. 
Homicide  is  not  included,  as  it  is  not  considered  a 

crime  in  the  ordinary  sense — that  is  to  say,  it  is  not  a 
matter  for  trial  as  for  the  administration  of  justice,  but 
simply  an  affair  calling  for  revenge  by  the  murdered  person's 
relatives.    The  misdemeanours  (iusmsa)  number  five  : — 
(i)  Breaking  a  vow. 


BISMARCKBURG  AND  LYANGALILE 


(2)  Refusing  to  take  part  in  public  sacrifices,  such  as 

take  place  at  the  sowing  and  reaping  seasons. 

(3)  Theft  of  a  tool  or  implement  (but  not  other  forms 

of  larceny). 

(4)  False  testimony. 

(5)  Ingratitude  to  parents  {nkoia). 

For  the  tusinza  there  were  no  punishments,  but  for 
the  Dipoiido,  the  chief  administers  punishment  which  till 
recently  usually  took  the  form  of  mutilation.  Ngulwe, 
too,  frequently  brought  sickness  upon  the  sinner  and  his 
family. 

A  curious  form  of  public  confession  is  associated  with 
the  mpondo.  This  .confession,  which  is  a  well-established 
practice  in  this  tribe,  is  known  as  Kupenmla  mpondo,  which 
is  not  easy  to  translate  as  the  word  kupemida  is  not  used 
in  any  other  connection,  but  it  means  the  taking  off  of 
the  load  or  burden  of  the  sins.  The  confession,  which 
is  only  practised  by  men,  takes  place  in  the  presence  of 
the  elders  of  the  village,  no  women  being  permitted  to 
attend.  The  man  about  to  confess  stands  at  the  doorway 
of  his  hut,  facing  west,  with  a  basket  in  his  hands,  in 
which  are  placed  some  sand  and  a  few  pieces  of  dry  grass. 
Having  confessed  his  mpondo  aloud,  he  throws  the  grass 
and  sand  into  the  air,  and  the  wind  carries  away  the 
pieces  of  grass,  while  the  sand  falls  back  into  the  basket. 
The  man  then  cries  out,  "My  mpondo  are  now  gone  like 
the  blades  of  grass,  my  tusinza  are  as  numerous  as  the 
grains  of  sand  in  this  basket,  let  them  go  too,"  and, 
suiting  the  action  to  the  word,  throws  out  the  sand.  He 
then  says,  "  I  have  no  more  mpondo,  and  Ngulwe  will  cure 
my  sickness"  (or  "will  give  me  a  prosperous  journey ") 
or  whatever  it  was  that  led  to  the  confession  :  for  this 
public  confession  is  only  used  in  cases  of  sickness — 
presumed  to  be  due  to  Ngidwes  wrath  at  some  sin — or 
when  starting  on  a  journey,  especially  when  about  to  cross 
the  Saisi  River  in  full  flood,  at  which  time,  near  its  mouth, 
it  is  considered  very  dangerous. 

Perhaps  the  most  interesting  part  of  the  beliefs  and 
customs  of  these  Wakuluwe  is  their  idea  of  the  residence 


24      THROUGH  THE   HEART  OF  AFRICA 


of  departed  spirits.  As  they  do  not  consider  the  soul  has 
anything  to  do  with  sins,  they  do  not  divide  this  abode 
into  heaven  and  hell,  but  have  only  one  residence  for 
all  the  souls  of  the  departed.  On  the  death  of  any  one 
it  is  considered  that  only  half  of  the  person  dies  ;  for, 
when  the  first  man  died  his  descendants  buried  him  near 
the  village,  and  while  they  were  discussing  the  advisability 
of  removing  to  a  new  site  on  account  of  his  death,  the 
corpse  rose  and  showed  half  of  his  body  above  the 
ground  and  then  disappeared  again.  This  was  taken  as 
a  sign  that  the  soul  (mwenzo)  remains  with  the  shade 
{kisinzwa).  These  fisinzwa  are  supposed  to  remain  in  a 
village  in  the  centre  of  the  earth  ;  neither  Ngulwe  nor 
Mwawa  interferes  with  them,  but  they  have  the  power  to 
approach  Ngulwe  and  intercede  with  him.  They  live  a 
life  described  as  being  one  continuous  night,  having 
nothing  to  do,  and  suffer  from  ennui  and  nostalgia, 
which  is  the  reason  why  they  come  at  times  to  carry  off 
a  fresh  companion  from  the  earth.  When  some  one  dies, 
the  relatives  ask  the  witch  doctor  which  of  the  fisinzwa 
has  called  him  ;  and,  having  told  them,  he  informs  them 
that  he  must  disinter  the  corpse  and  burn  the  remains 
(for  which  he  charges  a  heavy  fee)  and  cast  the  ashes  to 
the  winds. 

The  village  inside  the  earth  in  which  the  fisinziva  live 
is  said  to  be  lighted  by  a  mightier  light  than  the  earth, 
and  spirits  wear  shining  clothes,  and  the  huts  are  thatched 
with  shining  grass — the  word  used  to  describe  this  being 
kulelemela,  which  is  the  word  employed  for  the  bright 
shining  of  the  moon. 

There  exists  in  the  tribe  a  regular  sect  or  guild  of 
porcupine  hunters  {Waleli),  who  aver  that  they  visit  this 
village  of  the  fisinzwa  when  they  enter  the  porcupine's 
burrows,  and  that  there  is  a  mighty  river  in  the  near  side 
of  it  that  no  living  person  can  cross  without  a  charm,  so 
that  they  have  to  wait  on  the  near  side  till  a  woman 
comes  down  to  draw  water.  They  ask  her  for  a  charm, 
which  she  throws  into  the  water,  turning  it  into  sand. 
The  chief  of  the  village  is  called  Lungaba/wa,  and  is  most 


BISMARCKBURG  AND  LYANGALILE  25 


hospitable  to  them,  and  never  lets  them  go  away  empty- 
handed — always  giving  them  a  porcupine. 

The  possible  connection  in  these  beliefs  and  customs 
with  parts  of  Genesis,  the  Decalogue,  Hades,  and  the  Styx 
provides  interesting  speculation  for  the  student  of  ethno- 
graphy and  folklore. 


Ill 


RUKWA 

A  steep  descent — Attractive  native  dance — The  horrors  of  the  buffalo 
bean — Meeting  with  the  Mutwaki  ruler  Sa — Tribal  characteristics 
of  the  Wakwa — Simba  Mission — Negro  nuns — Curious  customs  and 
beliefs  of  the  Wakwa. 

Armed  with  a  passport  in  the  shape  of  a  cordial  letter  of 
introduction  from  Pere  Guilleme  to  any  of  his  confreres 
with  whom  we  might  come  into  contact,  we  left  Mwazye 
for  Rukwa  in  the  afternoon  of  the  15th  August,  escorted 
by  a  cheery  troupe  of  boys  and  girls,  whose  curiosity  or 
anxiety  to  see  us  safely  on  our  way  was  not  satisfied 
until  they  had  accompanied  us  for  something  over  a  mile. 
Seven  miles  brought  us  to  Mpwi,  the  village  at  which  Sa 
resides,  standing  on  the  brow  of  a  curving  rise  towards 
the  eastern  edge  of  a  magnificent  open  plain,  with  a 
glorious  view  of  the  Lyangalile  hills  breaking  up  the 
horizon  to  the  south-west.  Sa  herself  was  away,  but  her 
representatives  showed  but  little  embarrassment  at  having 
to  do  the  honours  in  her  absence  ;  and,  with  the  shelter  of 
the  chieftainess's  verandah  from  the  afternoon  sun  and  a 
clear  open  space  near  it  for  our  tents,  our  camp  left  little 
to  be  desired. 

A  little  hampered  by  the  conflicting  statements  of  the 
local  natives  as  to  which  of  the  tortuous  paths  that  lay 
ahead  of  us  was  the  most  direct  route  by  which  to  reach 
Simba  in  the  Rukwa  Valley  (to  them  a  most  uncomfort- 
able objective,  for  which  in  common  with  our  carriers  they 
seemed  to  have  considerable  difficulty  in  imagining  any 
sound  reason),  we  reached  the  edge  of  the  escarpment  on 
tlie  following  day,  to  find  the  view  of  valley  below  us 
entirely  and  perhaps  mercifully  obscured  by  impene- 
trable haze  that  for  three  parts  of  the  year  hangs  like  a 

26 


RUKWA 


27 


veil  over  the  lake  and  its  environs,  and  at  this  time  was 
intensified  by  the  smoke  of  the  bush  fires  that  were  filling 
the  air  with  hoarse  crackling  from  the  rocks  close  to  our 
feet  to  the  parched  plain  3000  feet  below. 

The  descent  occupied  something  over  two  hours  ;  the 
gradient  varied  from  one  in  four  to  something  like  two  in 
three  ;  and  the  path,  which  was  generally  over  rock  or  loose 
stones,  was  in  places  rendered  uncomfortably  slippery  by 
the  dry  grass  that  covered  it  like  a  mat. 

The  valley  at  the  base  consisted  of  parched  and 
blackened  country,  dotted  with  baobabs  and  thorn  trees, 
with  patches  of  stiff  yellow  grass  that  looked  as  if  it  never 
could  have  been  green. 

After  tramping  for  another  hour  through  the  baking 
heat,  we  were  relieved  to  find  ourselves  at  a  dried  up 
river  bed,  choked  with  masses  of  reeds  that  indicated  the 
existence  of  moisture  somewhere,  on  the  opposite  bank 
of  which  was  a  fair-sized  village,  with  a  magnificent  tree 
at  a  corner  of  it,  and  under  this  we  pitched  our  camp. 

The  native  dances  at  the  villages  through  which  we 
had  been  passing  had  been  neither  strikingly  interesting 
nor  original  ;  but  here,  at  Ilembwe's  when  the  moon  was 
up,  we  enjoyed  one  of  a  quite  unusual  type.  The  first 
part  was  in  the  usual  style — a  row  of  men  and  girls 
opposite  each  other,  accompanied  by  singing  of  a  refrain 
that  sounded  extraordinarily  like  "Come  along  and  have 
another  one."  Then  a  change  took  place,  and  a  pro- 
fessional dancer  in  costume  gave  a  pas  seid,  accompanied 
by  drums  and  girls  only,  singing,  the  remarkable  feature 
being  the  fact  that  not  only  was  the  refrain  an  excep- 
tionally musical  one,  but  the  drums,  singing,  and  dancing 
were  all  in  strict  time. 

The  country  through  which  we  tramped  for  the  next 
few  days  was  more  thickly  covered  with  vegetation  than 
the  foothills,  but  it  was  hot,  dry  and  thorny.  We  were 
fortunate,  however,  in  having  a  well-marked  track  most  of 
the  way,  flanked  by  the  hills  towering  away  on  our  left, 
which  presented  a  glorious  spectacle  when  lit  up  at  night 
with  sparkling  and  sinuous  terraces  of  flame  from  the 


28 


THROUGH   THE   HEART  OF  AFRICA 


bush  fires  creeping  along  their  slopes,  but  it  was  on  the 
whole  an  uninviting  stretch. 

One  of  these  days  will  long  be  remembered.  One 
of  us,  when  leaving  the  path  for  a  minute,  was  unfortunate 
enough  to  run  into  some  buffalo  bean.  It  is  an  innocent 
enough  looking  plant,  the  buffalo  bean — a  humble  creeper 
with  a  russet-coloured  woolly  little  pod,  but  of  what  this 
woolly  little  pod  is  capable,  only  those  who  have  felt 
its  torture  can  realise.  The  woolly  appearance  is  due  to 
a  coating  of  infinitesimal  and  almost  imperceptible  hairs. 
At  a  touch  they  become  detached,  and,  floating  broad- 
cast, alight  or  are  wafted  on  to  any  object  that  is  at 
hand.  Their  presence  is  not  immediately  detected,  as 
the  irritation  caused  is  a  little  time  in  taking  effect. 
The  victim  in  this  case  got  pretty  well  sprinkled  on 
arms,  legs,  and  neck,  as  well  as  on  the  inside  of  a  light 
overcoat. 

The  following  is  a  description  in  his  own  words:  "I 
had  walked  several  steps  before  I  had  a  notion  of  what  had 
happened,  and  then  the  fun  began.  First  a  slight  tickle 
on  an  arm,  then  another  at  the  back  of  the  neck,  then  at 
the  back  of  a  bare  knee,  then  all  over  again  da  capo  until 
the  spreading  torture  left  me  quite  bewildered  as  to  where 
to  scratch,  but  no  longer  in  any  doubt  of  the  particular  kind 
of  picnic  I  vi'as  in  for.  From  seven  o'clock  till  evening, 
with  two  short  intervals  during  which  it  partially  sub- 
sided, the  intense  irritation  continued,  and  though  I  tried 
everything  I  could  think  of  to  alleviate  it,  nothing  had 
more  than  the  slightest  temporary  effect. 

"  In  despair  at  the  ineffectiveness  of  my  own  remedies, 
I  asked  one  of  my  natives  what  they  used  themselves,  and 
he  recommended  hot  ashes.  Even  blisters  seemed  pre- 
ferable to  what  I  was  suffering,  and  I  ordered  him  to  rob 
the  nearest  fire  without  dela}'.  By  this  time  the  fiendish 
things  seems  to  have  got  through  shirt,  shorts,  and  every- 
thing, and  there  were  not  many  square  inches  of  me  into 
which  I  did  not  have  the  stuff  rubbed.  Fortunately  con- 
sideration for  his  own  fingers  prevented  the  boy  from  apply- 
ing the  ashes  too  hot,  but  by  the  time  he  had  finished  I  was 


A  MAGNIFICENT  TREE 


UNDER  WHICH  WE  PITCHED  OUR  CAMP. 


RUKWA 


29 


about  as  much  like  a  dustman  before  his  weekly  bath  as  I 
ever  shall  be. 

The  counter-irritant  had  a  slightly  distracting  effect, 
but  even  that  was  not  permanent,  and  I  had  to  realise 
that  the  only  thing  to  do  was  to  sit  as  still  as  possible  and 
let  the  irritation  wear  off,  which  it  did,  leaving  me  an 
exhausted  and  considerably  wiser  man  between  four  and 
five  o'clock.  Even  then  I  had  not  heard  the  last  of  it. 
Why  or  how  the  tiny  hairs  that  cause  the  trouble  disappear 
at  all,  or  whether  they  do  disappear,  or  only  lose  their 
poisonous  powers,  I  do  not  know  ;  but  I  had  an  unpleasant 
reminder  of  them  a  few  days  later  when,  on  donning  the 
same  garments  again,  after  a  thorough  washing  and  beating, 
I  found  that  the  fine  hairs  were  still  there,  and  the  clothes 
were  not  yet  fit  to  wear." 

The  Wakwa,  as  the  inhabitants  of  Rukwa  are  named, 
amongst  whom  we  were  now  travelling,  differ  in  many 
interesting  features  from  the  tribes  that  we  had  left  behind 
us  on  the  Lyangalile  highlands.  One  of  the  most  notable 
of  these  is  their  habit  of  eating  slabs  of  a  sort  of  un- 
leavened bread,  made  of  maize  flour,  in  the  place  of  the 
porridge  that  is  the  customary  diet  of  the  majority  of 
grain-growing  natives.  They  grow  but  little  millet,  and 
that  usually  high  up  on  the  steep  slopes  of  the  hills, 
a  habit  contracted  in  the  times  when  concealment  from 
enemies  was  an  important  consideration  and  still  main- 
tained, possibly  with  a  view  to  avoiding  the  poll  tax. 
They  have  also  a  peculiar  taste  for  eating  rats,  of  which 
they  cook  large  numbers — skin,  hair  and  all,  which  causes 
an  unpleasant  smell  in  the  vicinity  of  the  cooking  place. 
Their  principal  crops  are  maize,  used  for  the  brewing  of 
beer  as  well  as  the  making  of  bread,  bananas,  tomatoes, 
chillies,  the  castor-oil  plant,  and  a  good  deal  of  cotton. 
They  weave  a  coarse,  strong  serviceable  cloth  in  pieces 
averaging  7  by  4|-  feet  on  a  primitive  handloom. 

The  baskets  in  general  use  also  present  some  novel 
features.  In  addition  to  the  almost  universal  "  lupe,"  or 
flat  tray-like  basket,  they  have  a  soft,  plaited  receptacle, 
called  a  "  chiwo,"  resembling  a  massive  egg-cup  in  shape. 


30      THROUGH  THE   HEART  OF  AFRICA 


and  which  is  probably  of  SwahiU  origin,  while  they  carry 
pumpkins,  gourds,  and  other  bulky  objects  in  a  large 
open  wickerwork  crate,  suggesting  the  style  of  a  parrot 
cage.  The  flat  loaves,  while  still  intact,  they  ingeniously 
use  as  trays  and  plates.  The  huts  are  mostly  circular, 
the  walls  built  of  reeds,  which  are  placed  vertically,  being 
neither  plaited  nor  laid  horizontally,  as  is  usually  the  case 
in  reed-built  dwellings.  Owing  to  the  absence  of  the 
type  of  tree  from  which  barkrope  can  be  made,  creepers 
are  employed  for  binding. 

They  are  a  well-clothed  race,  wearing  the  cloth  of 
their  own  manufacture,  as  well  as  imported  blankets  and 
prints  ;  the  women  wear  beads  around  their  necks  and 
their  foreheads  and  metal  ornaments  inserted  at  the  side 
of  the  nostril,  while  a  few  affect  an  ear  ornament  (worn 
in  a  hole  in  the  lobe)  of  a  piece  of  wood  a  little  larger 
than  a  five  shillings  bit.  Brass  bracelets  and  anklets  are 
also  common. 

The  males  wear  but  few  ornaments  of  any  kind. 
Bows  and  arrows  are  usually  carried,  but  spears  are 
rarely  seen.  Small  herds  of  cattle  and  large  flocks  of 
sheep  and  goats  are  found  at  most  villages  of  any  size. 
In  place  of  the  usual  bark  cylinder,  crudely  hollowed 
wooden  vessels  are  placed  in  the  trees  to  act  as  beehives. 

At  Sakaliro's  village,  which  we  reached  shortly  after 
the  encounter  with  the  buffalo  bean,  we  had  the  pleasure 
of  meeting  Sa,  whom  we  had  missed  at  her  village,  and 
who  was  returning  with  a  large  retinue  from  a  visit  to  her 
relatives  in  Rukwa.  Intelligent-looking,  with  the  Hamitic 
strain  plainly  visible  at  close  quarters  in  comparison  with 
the  frankly  negro  type  of  her  subjects,  her  dignity  was 
unmistakable,  but  the  ease  and  composure  of  her  bearing 
were  sadly  marred  by  the  ill-fitting  cheap  cotton  print 
dress,  the  calico-covered  straw  sombrero,  and  the  am- 
munition boots  which  she  apparently  had  learnt  to  con- 
sider inseparable  from  her  dual  role  of  queen  and 
convert. 

News  of  our  approach  had  already  reached  her,  and 
we  were  expected  visitors.    Stools  for  herself  and  for  us 


RUKWA  31 

were  promptly  ordered  and  produced,  and  for  several 
minutes  we  sat  in  a  little  circle  in  the  middle  of  the 
village  and  exchanged  polite  greetings  and  inquiries  in  Ki- 
Swahili.  The  conversation  was  not  animated,  for  she 
was  obviously  exceedingly  self-conscious  and  shy,  and  the 
suggestion  that  she  and  her  suite  should  sit  for  their 
photographs  was  welcomed  as  a  relief. 

Presents  were  exchanged  before  we  parted,  and  after 
the  purchase  of  a  piece  of  native  cloth  from  her,  which 
showed  that  her  friendly  relations  in  no  way  interfered 
with  her  instincts  for  driving  a  hard  bargain,  we  pro- 
ceeded on  our  way  accompanied  by  one  of  her  henchmen, 
who  was  to  return,  if  we  had  any  luck  in  shooting  later 
in  the  day,  with  some  meat  for  his  mistress. 

At  our  camp  that  evening,  near  which  we  did  succeed 
in  securing  a  couple  of  reed  buck,  we  learnt  that  Sa  had 
thoughtfully  sent  messengers  to  the  neighbouring  villages 
with  orders  to  bring  in  supplies  of  food  and  beer  for 
ourselves  and  our  carriers.  In  obedience  to  these  orders 
the  people  came  in,  but  almost  empty-handed:  food,  they 
protested,  was  very  scarce,  and  they  naively  confessed  that 
they  themselves  had  drunk  all  the  beer  there  was.  We 
found  the  demeanour  of  some  of  them  quite  convincing, 
particularly  in  the  case  of  one  merry  crowd  that  volun- 
teered to  accompany  us  all  the  way  to  the  Victoria 
Nyanza,  but  on  the  following  day,  having  either  forgotten 
their  offer  or  thought  better  of  it,  were  nowhere  to  be 
found. 

On  the  19th  of  .August  we  reached  Simba  Mission,  at 
the  north-west  corner  of  Lake  Ikwa,  and  received  a 
hearty  welcome  from  the  Superior,  Pere  Avon,  and  his 
colleagues.  This  post  of  the  French  Fathers  is  chiefly 
remarkable  for  the  community  of  black  nuns  who  live 
there  ;  and  who  are,  we  believe,  the  only  native  women  in 
this  part  of  Africa  who  have  ever  taken  the  veil.  The  fact 
that  they  have  done  so  is  largely  due  to  the  initiative  of 
one  of  the  Watwaki  family  called,  like  the  founder  of 
the  dynasty,  Unda,  who,  after  receiving  an  education  at 
Karema  Mission — to  the  south  of  Ujiji  on  Tanganyika — 


32      THROUGH  THE   HEART  OF  AFRICA 


volunteered  to  found  the  sisterhood,  and  persuaded  three 
Bantu  friends  to  join  her.  Of  these,  two  are  Wenema- 
lungu  from  the  west  of  the  lake,  and  the  third  is  the  daughter 
of  a  chief  of  the  Bende  tribe  on  the  eastern  shore.  We 
were  much  impressed  by  the  demeanour  of  this  remark- 
able sisterhood,  the  cleanliness  of  their  house,  and  every- 
thing belonging  to  them.  The  Mutwaki  (now  known  as 
Soeur  Agnes)  had  plenty  of  natural  grace,  and  the  dignity 
that  seems  part  of  the  inheritance  of  this  Gala  stock  ; 
the  other  three  were  rather  shy  in  our  presence,  but  are, 
we  gathered,  devout  members  of  the  Church,  and,  like  their 
leader,  make  themselves  very  useful  in  attending  to  the 
sick  women  and  children  in  the  neighbourhood,  besides, 
doing  the  laundry  work  for  the  Mission.  Nor  are  they 
without  some  considerable  culinary  skill,  as  we  discovered 
from  a  sweet  and  a  cake  made  especially  for  our  benefit. 

A  fine  church  which  was  in  the  course  of  construction 
at  the  time  of  our  visit  pleased  us  particularly  by  its 
simple  architectural  beauty  and  its  symmetry.  Pillars 
were  being  purposely  omitted  from  the  scheme,  as  the 
congregation  were  so  fond  of  hiding  behind  them  !  Life 
at  Simba  must  be  very  trying  ;  the  climate  is  hot  and 
stifling,  and  hardly  any  one  ever  passes  the  Mission,  which 
lies  a  little  to  the  south  of  the  main  road  from  Dar-es- 
Salam  and  Kilimatindi  to  Bismarckburg.  We  were 
very  much  disappointed  to  find  that  the  whole  northern 
half  of  the  lake  was  dry,  and  that  it  would  mean  a  journey 
of  five  days  in  a  southerly  direction  to  reach  open  water. 
As  this  would  mean  a  delay  of  ten  or  eleven  days,  we  were 
obliged  to  forego  it.  We  managed,  however,  to  collect 
from  the  tributaries  that  are  absorbed  in  the  sandy  bed 
which  is  all  that  remains  of  the  north  end  of  the  lake, 
a  few  specimens  of  fish  for  the  British  Museum,  one  of 
which  proved  later  to  be  a  new  species. 

Ikwa  is  one  of  those  peculiar  lakes  that  has  no  outlet, 
so  that  a  study  of  its  fish  should  prove  most  interesting. 
The  amount  of  water  in  it  varies  considerably.  Up  to 
1880  it  had  been  generally  fairly  full,  but  in  that  year 
the  northern  half  dried  up  owing — so  the  natives  say — 


RUKWA 


33 


to  the  death  of  a  German  explorer,  who  was  interred  close 
by  and  subsequently  drank  the  waters  to  quench  his  thirst. 
The  lake  filled  up  again  between  1900  and  1902,  but 
since  then  has  been  getting  emptier  year  by  year.  At  the 
end  of  the  dry  season  a  great  wind  known  as  Kikulwe 
springs  up,  and  raises  the  sand  and  potash  from  the 
dry  bed  and  lake  shore  to  such  an  extent  that  the 
sun  is  totally  obscured  and  the  surrounding  country 
covered  with  a  heavy  deposit  for  some  miles  round. 
Mirages  are  common  on  and  near  the  lake,  and  are  called 
ajnangisisi  by  the  natives. 

Thanks  once  more  to  the  courtesy  of  one  of  our 
hosts  (Pere  Teurlings),  who  had  spent  many  years  among 
them,  we  were  able  to  collect  much  interesting  information 
about  the  customs  and  religious  beliefs  of  the  Wakwa. 

There  are  very  few  customs  observed  at  the  birth  of 
a  child.  When  the  woman  is  enceinte  she  confesses  if 
she  has  been  unfaithful  to  her  husband  so  as  to  avoid  the 
risk  of  dying  in  childbirth,  which  is  supposed  to  result  if 
the  confession  is  not  made.  (This  and  many  other  in- 
cidents closely  resemble  those  in  vogue  among  many  of 
the  Central  African  tribes.)  When  the  child  is  born  a 
present  is  made  to  the  local  midwives  by  the  parents,  of 
a  ram  in  the  case  of  a  son,  and  a  ewe  in  the  case  of  a 
daughter.  The  father  is  not  allowed  to  see  the  child  till 
an  interval  of  three  days  has  elapsed.  In  the  case  of 
twins  one  was  killed,  and  five  sheep  (or  goats — or  occa- 
sionally hoes  or  other  tools)  given  to  the  midwives.  A 
somewhat  similar  custom  exists  among  the  neighbouring 
Wafipa,  where  at  the  birth  of  twins  ten  sheep  are  pre- 
sented by  the  parents  to  the  paramount  chief.  After  the 
midwives  have  received  their  sheep,  they  and  their  col- 
leagues from  the  neighbouring  villages  collect,  and  go  to 
the  Chief's  village  to  announce  the  birth  of  the  twins, 
and  then  separate  to  spread  the  news  throughout  the 
surrounding  villages.  The  parents  may  neither  drink  nor 
tak  ■  snuff  on  the  day  of  the  birth,  nor  may  they  eat, 
except  a  small  bowl  of  porridge  mixed  with  pieces  of  a 
tree  called  umnombo.    Should  either  refuse  to  partake  of 

c 


34      THROUGH  THE   HEART  OF  AFRICA 


this,  his  (or  her)  hands  are  attacked  by  a  violent  trembling 
which  lasts  till  death. 

Instead  of  the  choice  of  wives  resting  with  the  Chief 
or  with  the  parents,  the  Wakwa  boys  choose  their  own, 
generally  starting  to  choose  at  about  the  age  of  eight. 
When  a  youth  has  finally  made  up  his  mind,  or  thinks  he 
has,  he  carries  a  load  of  firewood  to  the  girl's  parents'  hut, 
and  if  they  approve  of  him  they  give  him  some  porridge. 
Having  thus  committed  himself,  he  goes  next  to  his  own 
father  to  ask  him  to  provide  sufficient  of  the  world's  goods 
to  enable  him  to  set  up  an  establishment  for  himself.  The 
father  then,  provided  that  he  agrees  with  his  son's  choice, 
goes  to  the  girl's  parents,  taking  a  hoe  {nkomo  luyi)  to  the 
girl ;  and  asks  for  her  on  his  son's  behalf.  Consent  on 
the  part  of  the  girl  is  shown  by  her  keeping  silent,  but 
refusal  by  her  saying  "  No  "  and  leaving  the  house.  Once 
the  young  couple  are  engaged,  which  is  what  these  pre- 
liminaries amount  to,  they  are  not  allowed  to  look  at  each 
other  during  the  daytime,  nor  may  the  youth  look  at  his 
future  parents-in-law  till  the  marriage  has  been  consum- 
mated and  a  child  born.  The  girl  may  look  at  her 
parents-in-law  after  the  marriage  ceremony.  During  the 
''engagement"  each  must  scrupulously  avoid  meeting  the 
other's  parents,  and  must  turn  in  another  direction  if  there 
is  any  chance  of  a  meeting  (the  fixed  times  at  which  they 
meet  for  certain  parts  of  the  ceremony  are,  of  course, 
excepted).  Sexual  intercourse  between  the  young  people 
prior  to  the  giving  of  the  first  present  is  not  considered 
wrong,  but  after  that  it  is  strictly  forbidden  till  the 
marriage  has  taken  place  ;  or,  strictly  speaking,  as  will  be 
seen,  till  the  fifth  day  after  the  marriage. 

After  the  betrothal  comes  the  regular  present-giving, 
which  varies  from  three  to  fifteen  sheep  (five  being  a 
common  number) — the  local  value  of  a  sheep  being  about 
Rs.  2.  On  the  eve  of  the  wedding  day  the  young  man 
takes  a  fowl  to  the  girl's  hut,  and  her  parents  bring  her  in 
crying :  a  dance  then  follows,  after  which  the  man  leaves, 
returning  at  first  cock-crow  on  the  following  morning 
with  his  companions,  and  taking  with  him  some  earth  and 
water,  with  the  mud  made  of  which  the  girl  covers  his 


"A  FINE  CHURCH   WAS  IN  THE  COURSE  OF  CONSTRUCTION." 


RUKWA 


35 


neck  and  chest,  and  he  does  the  same  to  her.  Then  they 
cover  each  other's  bodies  all  over  with  the  mud.  Porridge 
and  meat  are  then  fetched,  and  he  puts  some  in  his 
fiancee's  mouth,  and  her  companions  put  some  in  his. 
About  noon  they  wash.  A  woman  then  takes  a  young 
child  {kiswdi)  to  the  bridegroom's  hut,  and  he  gives  her 
five  fowls  ;  after  which  she  sits  on  a  stool  between  his 
parents'  hut  and  that  of  the  bride's  parents.  This  woman 
proceeds  to  mark  out  the  distance  between  the  huts  by 
hoe-lengths,  and  if  she  stops  at  every  hoe-length  he 
presents  a  fowl  at  each  halt,  and  if  it  is  every  ten  hoe- 
lengths  a  sheep.  All  these  gifts  placed  upon  the  ground 
go  to  the  bridesmaids.  The  bride  also  has  a  kisindi,  and 
both  are  oiled  all  over.  After  this  present-giving  the 
bride  and  bridegroom  are  oiled,  and  the  bridegroom  dons 
a  cloth,  a  comb  in  his  hair,  a  belt  of  beads,  and  bells  on 
his  ankles  and  on  his  left  side.  The  bride  wears  a  cloth, 
beads  on  her  neck  and  body,  and  also  as  a  belt,  with  shells 
all  over  her  head  ;  and  on  her  forehead  paints  usiili  (a 
decoction  of  pungent  leaves  powdered).  The  bride- 
groom's kisindi  goes  to  the  bride,  and  gets  a  little  of  the 
usuli  on  his  finger  and  brings  it  to  the  bridegroom  to 
smell  to  see  if  it  is  good.  The  man  then  takes  a  little 
thatch  from  the  roof  of  his  father-in-law's  hut,  and  stands 
with  a  miniature  bow  and  arrow  on  his  left  hand  and  a 
stick  in  his  right  hand,  and  looks  at  the  sun  for  half-an- 
hour.  While  he  is  thus  engaged,  the  village  midwives  gather 
round  and  insult  him.  The  father-in-law  then  emerges 
from  his  hut,  and  puts  an  arrow  in  the  bridegroom's  hair  ; 
this  is  followed  by  the  bride's  appearance,  and  her  husband 
greets  her  by  putting  a  wooden  "  tooth  hush  "  in  her  mouth 
and  by  slapping  her  on  her  head — and  sometimes  on  the 
body  as  well ;  the  bride's  father  and  mother  then  address 
the  people  ;  the  bridegroom  takes  another  handful  of 
thatch  from  his  father-in-law's  roof,  and  removes  the  arrow 
from  his  hair,  which  act  completes  the  marriage. 

Beer-drinking  follows,  and  the  bridegroom  goes  to  his 
parents'  hut,  and  gives  the  arrow  to  his  own  father.  Then 
his  relatives  go  to  fetch  the  bride,  who  has  a  fowl  given  to 
her  on  leaving  her  parents'  hut,  and  beads  and  other 


36      THROUGH  THE  HEART  OF  AFRICA 

presents  at  every  landmark  or  halting  place  en  route  (i.e. 
on  crossing  a  stream,  or  climbing  a  hill),  and  further 
presents  on  entering  the  bridegroom's  hut,  on  receiving 
porridge,  on  undressing,  and  on  lying  down.  All  the 
bridesmaids  and  the  bridegroom's  young  friends  sleep  in 
the  hut  with  the  couple  that  night. 

The  next  day  the  bride  shows  the  presents  to  her 
parents,  and  then  returns  to  her  husband,  keeping  her 
head  down  and  her  eyes  fixed  on  the  ground  for  three 
days  so  as  to  see  no  one.  On  the  fourth  day  they  return 
to  their  own  parents'  huts,  and  on  the  fifth  day  the 
bridegroom  fetches  firewood  for  his  parents-in-law  and 
they  give  him  porridge  just  as  was  done  at  his  first  pro- 
posal. He  then  returns  to  his  own  hut,  followed  by  his 
wife  carrying  porridge  and  meat.  That  night  they  co- 
habit, and  live  together  thenceforward  as  man  and  wife. 

The  customs  of  the  Wakwa  at  death  and  burial  present 
one  or  two  novel  features,  though  many  points  of  resem- 
blance to  those  of  other  tribes  will  be  apparent  to  any 
student  of  comparative  ethnography.  In  the  event  of 
sickness,  the  relatives  of  the  invalid  go  to  the  doctor  to 
discover  who  is  responsible  for  the  illness.  One  of  the 
methods  of  divination  employed  by  the  doctor  is  to  place 
a  string  between  two  upright  sticks  and  affix  to  it  a  small 
pot  which  he  manipulates  while  asking  the  relatives  leading 
questions  with  a  view  to  finding  out  from  them  on  whom 
this  suspicion  rests.  Having  ascertained  this,  he  accuses 
the  person  indicated,  and  for  so  doing  receives  a  present 
of  one  white  fowl.  The  relatives  then  request  the  accused 
to  make  some  payment,  and,  if  he  complies  and  the  sick 
person  recovers,  there  is  an  end  of  the  matter. 

When  a  person  dies  the  relatives  begin  by  crying  and 
rolling  on  the  ground,  after  which  they  bind  strips  of 
bark  round  their  foreheads  and  chests.  The  deceased's 
friends  (not  his  relatives)  dig  the  grave,  and  the  corpse  is 
buried  in  a  sitting  position,  the  calves  of  the  legs  tied  back 
to  the  thighs,  and  the  forearm  to  the  shoulder.  On  the 
death  of  a  woman  who  has  not  given  birth  to  a  child,  a 
burning  stick  is  placed  by  her  side.  "This,"  they  say, 
"  shall  be  as  a  child  to  you."    Lepers  are  not  buried,  but 


RUKWA 


37 


their  bodies  are  thrown  into  the  bush.  At  the  burial  all 
the  people  of  the  same  totem  as  the  deceased  take  part. 
After  the  digging  of  the  grave  and  the  tying  up  of  the 
corpse,  some  relatives  (of  the  same  sex  as  the  deceased) 
enter  the  grave,  and  standing  upon  it  receive  the  corpse, 
which  is  handed  to  them,  and  then  rake  in  the  first  earth 
with  their  elbows.  They  then  emerge  from  the  grave,  and 
the  rest  of  the  earth  is  thrown  in  with  hands  and  hoes  ; 
every  person  present  must  throw  in  at  least  one  handful 
as  a  farewell  to  the  deceased.  Finally,  a  stick  is  placed 
at  each  end  of  the  grave  to  mark  the  place.  The  mourners 
then  return  to  the  village  and  howl  for  a  spell,  while  they 
make  a  fire,  spatchcock  a  fowl,  and  purify  themselves. 
The  fowl  is  eaten  with  porridge.  An  animal  (ox,  sheep, 
or  goat)  is  killed,  and  all  who  were  present  at  the  funeral 
receive  meat  and  porridge,  the  men  receiving  the  hind 
quarters  and  head,  and  the  women  the  fore  quarters  and 
back:  the  following  day  is  a  day  of  rest  known  as  the 
wanda  wa  insio,  on  which  no  work  is  supposed  to  be  done  ; 
and  any  work  done  on  this  day  is  supposed  to  be  un- 
profitable. 

If  the  relatives  of  the  deceased  had,  prior  to  his  death, 
discovered  the  individual  "responsible  for"  his  illness,  he 
is  compelled  to  undergo  a  inwavi  test  (ordeal  by  poison). 
If  the  discovery  has  not  been  already  made,  the  doctor 
is  consulted  after  the  funeral  with  the  object  of  ascer- 
taining whether  death  was  due  to  witchcraft  or  to  a 
summons  by  the  spirit  of  some  deceased  relative  {vide  infra 
in  notes  on  disinterment).  On  the  third  day  following 
the  funeral  the  midwives  of  the  village  perform  within 
a  hut  a  dance,  concerning  which  nothing  is  known  except 
that  the  performers  are  in  a  state  of  complete  nudity, 
even  the  mwele  being  removed,  and  on  the  fourth  day 
the  relatives  wash  themselves,  sweep  out  the  deceased's 
hut  and  throw  the  dust  collected  into  the  river  and 
anoint  themselves  with  oil,  which  completes  the  obsequies. 

Where  the  death  has  been  attributed  to  a  departed 
spirit,  the  doctor  has  to  divine  which  particular  spirit 
it  is  that  has  called  for  a  companion,  which  he  does 
by  taking  a  piece  of  kilolo,  the  root  of  a  plant  called 


38      THROUGH  THE   HEART  OF  AFRICA 


milala  and  the  leaves  of  another  plant  called  kavumbe, 
chews  and  spits  them  out  into  the  palm  of  his  hand, 
and  rolls  them  thereon  with  a  small  stick.  Then  having 
already  taken  the  precaution  of  ascertaining  which  of 
the  deceased's  ancestors'  spirits  is  suspected,  he  names 
him  as  having  been  selected  by  his  magic.  (Another 
method  of  "  divination "  sometimes  employed  is  by  the 
applicant  holding  the  top  and  the  doctor  the  base  of 
an  antelope's  horn,  which  is  manipulated  while  the  doctor 
"  divines "  the  responsible  spirit.)  For  the  service  of 
divination  the  doctor  demands  but  a  small  fee ;  but 
having  divined  the  shade  that  has  caused  the  trouble, 
he  orders  the  disinterment  and  burning  of  the  remains. 
For  this  a  very  high  fee  is  exacted,  and  no  one  but 
the  doctor  himself  is  qualified  to  undertake  it.  All  the 
relatives  of  the  deceased  accompany  the  doctor  to  the 
grave  of  the  person  to  be  exhumed.  The  doctor 
sprinkles  the  grave  and  its  immediate  neighbourhood 
with  medicines,  and  the  relatives  proceed  to  disinter  the 
remains.  Any  bones  found  are  removed  and  sprinkled 
with  medicines,  and  then  placed  on  a  rude  plank.  A 
fire  is  then  kindled  inside  the  grave  to  consume  any 
remains  that  may  have  escaped  the  notice  of  the  diggers. 
The  bones  that  have  been  placed  on  the  plank  are  taken 
away  and  burnt  near  a  river,  into  which  the  ashes  are 
then  thrown.    Ablutions  complete  the  ceremony. 

A  few  notes  on  the  succession  laws  will  complete  the 
description  of  Wakwa  customs.  On  the  death  of  a 
married  man  the  eldest  surviving  brother  succeeds  to  all 
his  wives  and  divides  his  other  property  with  the  remain- 
ing relatives.  On  the  death  of  a  married  woman  her 
relatives  take  possession  of  her  property,  but  provide  the 
widower  with  a  new  wife.  On  the  death  of  a  male,  even 
if  his  successor  {e.g.  a  younger  brother  or  nephew) 
happen  to  be  immature,  he  is  compelled  at  least  once  to 
cohabit  with  the  wife  or  wives  to  whom  he  succeeds 
despite  any  discrepancy  in  age.  Should  he  fail  to  fulfil 
this  duty  any  one  else  is  then  at  liberty  to  marry  the 
woman  or  women  on  the  payment  of  a  price  to  the  youth 
who  has  failed  to  make  good  his  inheritance.    After  the 


RUKWA 


39 


settlement  of  the  deceased's  affairs,  the  relations  shave 
their  heads  and  indulge  in  a  carouse. 

The  religious  beliefs  and  superstitions  of  the  Wakwa  are 
particularly  interesting  when  regarded  in  conjunction  with 
those  of  the  VVakuluwe  related  in  the  preceding  chapter, 
for  the  Wakuluwe  and  Wakwa  are  neighbours  whose  terri- 
tory is  contiguous  ;  but  whereas  the  former  have  a  distinct 
religious  code  based  on  a  rather  elaborate  theistic  belief,, 
the  latter  are  frankly  pagan — indeed  far  more  so  than  any 
of  the  neighbouring  tribes  with  which  we  are  acquainted. 

Beyond  a  belief  in  a  Creator  (Lesa),  who  created  the 
world  and  did  nothing  else  (the  common  idea  in  this  part 
of  Africa),^  no  reference  is  made  in  their  superstitions  to 
any  god,  but  their  principal  object  of  worship  is  the  Sun 
{Ndaka),  which  they  consider  to  be  the  giver  and  preserver 
of  life.  They  believe  that  the  sun  had  at  one  time  a 
battle  with  the  moon,  in  which  the  latter  was  badly 
worsted,  the  signs  of  the  conflict  being  still  visible  upon  its 
face.  In  consequence  of  this  defeat  the  moon  is  not 
worshipped.  The  worship  of  the  sun  is  of  a  simple 
nature,  being  conducted  in  private  inside  the  worshipper's 
hut,  and  has  no  external  ceremony  whatever.  They 
merely  pray  to  it  for  life  and  health. 

Next  in  importance  comes  the  worship  of  sundry 
sacred  places — groves,  rocks,  or  trees,  in  which  snakes 
(especially  pythons)  are  found  ;  and  the  following  is  the 
list  of  the  principal  places  : — 


Name  of  Place.  Natne  of  Pries f. 

Ushyela.  Kipoma. 
Namatata  (near  Nkoma,  where  there  are    Koswe  of  Nkoma. 

many  snakes). 

Fwaila  (a  big  tree  near  Lake  Ikwa).  Kipoma. 

Chandikala  (another  tree).  „ 

Namwela  (a  small  hill  near  Simba).  Wakulimalungu. 

Ngola  (a  hill  at  Ntetezi).  Kipoma. 

Inkinga  (a  big  stone  near  Yunga).  „ 

Nsovwe  (a  rock  at  the  top  of  the  hills 

west  of  Mayengi).  ? 

Inkulu  (a  big  tree).  ? 


Cf.  Ennius  : — "  Ego  deum  genus  esse  semper  dixi,  et  dicam  coelitum  ; 
Sed  cos  non  curare  opinor, 
Quid  agat  humanum  genus." 


40      THROUGH  THE   HEART  OF  AFRICA 


The  control  of  these  sacred  places  and  objects  is 
entirely  in  the  hands  of  the  priests  {kapepd),  and  none 
but  the  recognised  priest  can  offer  sacrifices  or  conduct 
worship  at  any  of  them  ;  and  they  have  the  power  to 
order  attendance  for  worship  at  any  of  them  at  any  time 
they  please,  which  order  must  be  obeyed  by  all.  More- 
over, every  one,  even  the  chief,  has  to  make  a  present  of 
beer  to  the  priest  before  attending.  When  a  priest  dies 
he  is  succeeded  by  his  son,  who  has  been  instructed  in 
the  mysteries  during  the  lifetime  of  his  father. 

When  proceeding  to  worship,  the  priest  attires  himself 
in  a  cotton  cloth  of  native  manufacture,  encircles  his  arms 
with  large  white  beads  and  his  neck  with  small  blue  ones. 
He  takes  with  him  the  chief's  sceptre  {iluazi),  and  the 
small  bow  used  in  the  marriage  ceremony  {amakolwe),  and 
is  accompanied  by  two  small  girls  and  a  small  boy.  One 
of  the  girls  carries  his  chair  {chamapepo\  the  other  a  basket 
of  flour  {mpanda  ya  niulimo),  while  the  boy  carries  a  small 
drum  (mlumba),  and  the  whole  population  of  the  village 
follows  a  little  distance  behind.  Arrived  at  the  sacred 
place,  the  priest  announces  in  a  loud  voice  that  the 
ceremony  is  beginning  (nkuuma  akito),  and  spills  some  beer 
and  flour  upon  the  ground.  He  then  drinks  some  beer 
from  the  pot,  and  hands  some  round  to  the  others  in  a 
calabash.  All  the  people  chant,  striking  the  spears  which 
they  hold  in  their  left  hands  with  a  small  stick.  The 
priest  then  proceeds  to  the  sacrifice,  which  takes  the  form 
of  either  a  black  sheep  or  a  white  cock,  and  sprinkles  the 
blood  upon  the  ground.  After  this  they  all  return  to  the 
village,  and  the  people  salute  the  priest  by  lying  down  and 
clapping  their  hands  crying,  out  "  Mouse  mukidu  lata." 

The  only  form  of  direct  worship  of  snakes,  other  than 
that  of  the  rocks  and  trees  where  they  live,  is  to  carry 
porridge  and  place  it  near  their  holes  for  them  to  eat. 
This  is  frequently  done. 

The  spirits  of  ancestors  {azintu)  are  also  worshipped 
inside  the  huts,  near  the  door,  at  the  side  of  which  is  built 
an  altar  with  a  hole  in  it  {kiloa).  After  a  brewing  of 
beer,  a  small  quantity  is  always  left  on  this  altar  for  one 


RUKWA 


41 


night.  When  about  to  proceed  on  a  hunting  or  fishing 
expedition,  birds'  feathers  are  placed  upon  the  altar,  and  in 
the  event  of  the  expedition  proving  unsuccessful  the  altar 
is  broken  to  pieces.  Beyond  this,  and  the  allocation  of 
responsibility  in  cases  of  death  and  sickness,  already 
referred  to,  the  people  appear  to  pay  no  attention  to  the 
azinni. 

The  last  "  deity "  in  the  mythology  of  the  Wakwa 
is  the  Lake  god,  Mwena  (a  word  also  used  by  them  for 
waterspout  and  for  smallpox),  who  is  feared  and  wor- 
shipped as  causing  death  by  his  servants  the  crocodiles 
{itg'ivena). 


IV 


RUKWA  TO  TABORA 

Game  on  the  Kavu  River — A  long  stalk — Euphorbia-stockaded  villages 
— Unintentional  change  of  route — Reception  by  Muchereka,  Mu- 
lungwa  chief — And  by  Kasamia — "  Tembo  "  architecture — Preval- 
ence of  tsetse  fly — Sport  on  the  Ugalla  River — Kalula,  chief  of  the 
Wagunda — Belt  of  good  timber,  with  sawpits — Arrival  at  Tabora. 

The  vast  open  plains  into  which  the  Rukwa  Valley 
broadens  out  to  the  north  along  the  Kavu  River  enjoy 
local  reputation  as  being  the  feeding  grounds  of  huge 
herds  of  game,  and  we  were  glad  to  reach  a  locality  where 
there  was  a  good  chance  of  sport.  Our  carriers  up  to 
this  point  had  had  but  little  meat,  and  we  ourselves  were 
wondering  how  soon  we  should  have  an  opportunity  of 
justifying  the  expenditure  of  Rs.200  per  licence  for 
shooting  ordinary  game  in  German  East  Africa.  We  had 
not,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  been  encouraged  to  take  out  a 
game  licence  by  the  official  at  Bismarckburg  ;  he  assured 
us  that  it  was  both  cheaper  and  easier  to  purchase  sheep  or 
goats  when  we  were  in  need  of  food. 

The  second  day  after  leaving  Simba  we  reached  a 
village  on  the  edge  of  the  plains,  and  camped  for  the 
night,  and  on  the  following  morning  we  rose  at  half-past 
four,  an  hour  earlier  than  usual  in  this  section  of  our 
journey,  so  as  to  be  certain  of  finding  some  game  before 
the  heat  of  the  day.  We  had  been  further  encouraged  to 
this  unusual  energy  by  the  urgent  advice  of  the  local 
natives  to  start  after  dawn,  as  there  were  always  lions 
about  at  an  earlier  hour.  They  admitted  on  inquiry  that 
the  lions  so  far  had  proved  quite  innocent  of  any  hostile 
intentions  towards  man,  and,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  we  saw 
none  at  all.  It  was  just  light  when,  on  rounding  a  bit  of 
cover,  we  sighted  our  first  beast — a  topi  bull  standing  in 

42 


RUKWA  TO  TABORA 


43 


the  open  at  about  two  hundred  yards.  There  was  no  time 
for  very  careful  aim,  as  he  had  already  seen  us  ;  and  the 
first  shot,  which  was  a  miss,  sent  him  away  at  a  gallop  to 
join  a  group  that  we  then  spied  standing  about  half-a-mile 
away.  The  half-burned  cane  grass  was  long  enough  to 
hide  them  at  times,  and  we  were  unable  to  make  out  their 
numbers,  but  there  were  then  no  others  in  sight,  so  we  de- 
cided to  try  a  stalk.  The  wind,  as  we  stood,  was  in  our 
favour,  but  there  was  no  cover  within  considerable  distance 
on  either  side  between  us  and  our  quarry,  and  it  was  there- 
fore necessary  to  make  a  long  detour  to  the  east  in  order  to 
take  advantage  of  the  shelter  of  a  patch  of  an  unburnt 
grass  that  lay  about  a  mile  to  our  right  front.  It  was  the 
most  tiring  kind  of  walking,  the  surface  of  these  plains 
being  closely  studded  with  tough  little  clumps  of  grass 
roots  rising  several  inches  above  the  level,  against  which 
one  is  constantly  and  painfully  stubbing  the  toes  or  twist- 
ing the  ankles  ;  the  sun  was  rapidly  gaining  power,  and 
there  was  not  a  square  yard  of  shade  for  miles.  On  our 
getting  within  a  few  hundred  yards  of  the  grass  patch,  the 
topi,  which  had,  after  all,  been  watching  our  movements, 
apparently  realised  that  it  was  time  to  be  on  the  move, 
and  put  another  half-mile  between  us. 

This  put  us  on  our  mettle,  and  spying  a  thicker  island 
of  grass  which  offered  nearly  as  much  advantage  as  the 
first,  we  set  ourselves  to  reach  it,  by  first  walking  some 
distance  at  an  angle  in  order  to  have  it  between  us  for 
the  rest  of  the  stalk.  On  reaching  it,  we  found  that  the 
herd,  still  on  the  alert,  had  spread  out,  and  that  a  sentinel 
in  advance  of  the  rest  had  spied  us  round  the  corner. 
New  tactics  suggested  themselves — we  divided,  the  one, 
deliberately  keeping  in  sight,  moved  off  to  the  left,  with 
the  object  of  holding  their  attention  while  the  other  slowly 
and  painfully  forced  his  way  through  the  brake,  making  as 
little  noise  as  possible  and  hoping  to  find  the  herd  within 
range  on  the  other  side. 

Once  more  disappointment  was  in  store.  They  had 
moved  on  again.  Our  strategy,  however,  was  succeeding. 
They  had  not  gone  far,  and  as  their  attention  was  riveted 


44      THROUGH  THE  HEART  OF  AFRICA 


on  the  decoy  still  slowly  tramping  away  in  the  opposite 
direction,  and  there  was  a  small  clump  of  grass  within 
some  eighty  yards  of  them,  it  seemed  as  though  after  all 
our  strenuous  efforts  would  not  be  unrewarded.  The 
grass  clump  was  not  more  than  four  feet  at  its  highest,  and 
only  the  bottom  half  was  thick  enough  to  act  as  a  screen, 
so  there  was  nothing  for  it  but  a  crawl.  It  lasted  perhaps 
120  yards,  but  with  all  sorts  of  uncomfortable  things 
scratching  one's  bare  knees  and  elbows,  the  burnt  grass 
making  a  regular  sweep  of  the  crawler,  and  the  efforts  of 
carrying  an  lb.  rifle  so  as  to  guard  against  the  muzzle 
being  choked  with  foreign  objects,  it  seemed  like  half  a 
mile.  It  was  therefore  no  small  relief  to  find,  on  reaching 
and  cautiously  peering  over  the  slender  screen,  that  the 
game  had  remained  in  the  same  spot,  and  that  their  atten- 
tion was  still  engaged  elsewhere.  After  a  short  pause  to 
recover  the  breath,  an  unusually  persistent  stalk  ended 
with  a  very  fair  bull  and  an  old  cow  topi  lying  on  the 
ground,  victims  to  a  right  and  left  at  about  eighty  yards. 
We  then  turned  back  towards  Kalumbalesa's  village  at  the 
edge  of  the  plain,  where  we  had  directed  our  carriers  to 
await  us.  Hundreds  of  bohor  reedbuck  were  popping 
up  in  all  directions,  and  we  accounted  for  half  a  dozen  on 
our  way  ;  and,  arriving  at  the  village  at  about  noon,  we 
pitched  our  camp. 

There  was  a  generous  supply  of  beer  in  the  village,  of 
which  we  purchased  about  a  gallon,  and  drank  nearly  all 
of  it.  This  beverage  forms  an  important  item  in  the  native 
dietary.  It  is  made  by  pouring  boiling  water  upon  crushed 
and  partly  fermented  grain,  and  forms  a  thick  fluid,  exactly 
like  thin  bran  mash  ;  the  natives  like  it  fairly  thick,  but  if 
diluted  and  strained  to  the  consistency  of  thin  cream  it 
provides  a  refreshing  and  sustaining  drink,  containing  about 
as  much  alcohol  as  light  dinner  ale.  When  there  is  beer 
there  is  generally  dancing,  and  in  the  evening  we  made  two 
efforts  to  obtain  a  flash-light  photograph  of  the  village  en 
fete;  the  effect  upon  the  revellers  was  so  amusing  as  to 
justify  the  experiment,  but  the  photographs  unfortunately 
both  turned  out  to  be  failures. 


RUKWA  TO  TABORA 


45 


The  next  day  we  decided  to  stay  at  the  same  spot,  and, 
trying  the  plain  a  Uttle  farther  north,  devoted  most  of  the 
day  to  shooting.  One  large  herd  of  topi  that  we  came 
upon  in  the  shade  of  a  belt  of  timber  must  have  numbered 
close  on  four  hundred,  whilst  a  second  seen  in  the  evening 
was  about  half  the  size.  They  were  wary,  however,  but  we 
succeeded  in  securing  a  few  heads  well  up  to  the  average, 
and  a  welcome  supply  of  meat  for  the  carriers  and  our 
hosts. 

The  vagaries  of  an  old  rifle  prolonged  the  outing  for 
one  of  us  to  a  tiring  day  of  hours.  First  the  pull  of  the 
trigger,  for  some  unaccountable  reason,  suddenly  increased 
to  23  pounds  (and  the  gut  binding  round  the  broken 
stock  made  it  impracticable  to  look  inside) ;  then  the  am- 
munition, of  which  he  was  carrying  a  very  small  supply, 
gave  out :  he  had  a  fine  bull  topi  lying  wounded  close  by, 
the  natives  had  not  got  a  spear  between  them,  his  spare 
gun  was  left  behind,  and  the  only  thing  to  do  was  to  send 
back  to  camp  for  another  weapon.  The  first  man  sent  for 
it  lost  his  way,  and  arrived  at  the  camp  about  sundown  ; 
and  a  second,  with  a  better  bump  of  locality,  got  back  to 
the  scene  with  another  battery  at  about  3.30,  and  camp 
was  not  reached  till  two  hours  later. 

It  was  in  this  neighbourhood  that  we  began  to  notice 
the  prevalence  of  the  euphorbia-fenced  village.  The  huts 
in  many  cases  had  been  built  and  rebuilt  over  and  over 
again  within  the  slowly  growing  rising  stockade  that  in  the 
days  of  mutual  hostility  with  their  neighbours  had  been 
found,  by  reason  partly  of  its  denseness  and  partly  of  the 
poisonous  properties  of  its  juice,  to  be  so  effective  a  barrier 
against  the  intrusion  of  enemies. 

Some  of  these  had  grown  to  such  a  height  and 
such  a  thickness  that  it  was  quite  impossible,  except 
at  very  close  quarters,  to  detect  the  presence  of  the  huts 
within. 

In  the  construction  of  the  huts  themselves  there  was 
a  feature  that  was  new  to  us  ;  the  walls,  instead  of  being 
composed  of  reeds,  bamboo,  or,  commonest  of  all,  slender 
poles,  were  constructed  from  large  thornwood,  split  by 


46      THROUGH  THE  HEART  OF  AFRICA 


reason  of  its  greater  size  into  rough  lathes.  This  was,  of 
course,  due  to  the  absence  of  small  straight  timber. 

It  had  been  our  intention  to  travel  via  the  French 
Fathers'  Mission  at  Mpimbwe,  but  soon  after  leaving  our 
hunting  grounds,  our  carriers,  for  some  reason  best  known 
to  themselves,  took  the  right  hand  of  two  tracks  (leading 
from  our  camp  at  a  village  called  Pantula),  which  happened 
to  be  the  wrong  one.  Near  the  end  of  this  long  day's 
march,  of  which  17  miles  was  through  a  waterless  tract 
sparsely  covered  with  thorn  trees,  borassus  palms,  and 
baobabs,  we  discovered  that  we  had  gone  too  far  to  the 
east  to  make  it  worth  while  to  carry  out  our  original 
purpose.  We  decided,  therefore,  to  follow  the  track  that 
had  been  chosen  for  us,  consoled  by  the  reflection  that  it 
was  perhaps  a  slightly  shorter  route  to  Tabora,  and  led 
through  a  less  frequented  part  of  the  country. 

We  had  now  left  the  Wakwa  behind  us,  and  entered 
a  section  of  the  country  called  Lungwa  (also  the  name  of 
a  river  running  through  it),  the  natives  of  which  call 
themselves  Alungwa.  The  first  of  their  villages  at  which 
we  camped  was  that  of  one  of  the  principal  "  Sultans," 
as  they  are  locally  called,  a  well-preserved,  middle-aged 
woman  named  Muchereka — with  quite  as  good  idea  of 
her  position  as  Sa.  She,  however,  was  not  embarrassed 
by  the  incongruous  trappings  of  civilisation,  nor  by  the 
self-consciousness  of  recent  accession  and  youth,  and 
her  reception  of  us  was  an  amusing  mixture  of  dignity, 
familiarity,  and  respect.  She  got  in  a  handshake,  when 
we  were  off  our  guard,  provided  us  with  stools  until  our 
chairs  arrived,  invited  us  to  pitch  our  tents  close  to  her 
own  compound,  which  was  enclosed  in  a  12-foot  reed 
fence,  and  gave  us  the  use  of  a  comfortable  and  well- 
built  itsaka,  or  half-open  shelter,  just  outside  it. 

We  tried  the  experiment  of  inviting  her  to  have  a  cup 
of  tea  with  us  when  she  came  round  to  pay  a  call  in  the 
afternoon.  She  accepted  with  alacrity  ;  and,  sitting  on 
her  chair,  which  she  had  brought  with  her,  her  husband 
and  court  squatting  on  the  ground  at  her  side,  showed 
by  her  enjoyment  of  two  cups  sweetened  with  plenty  of 


RUKWA  TO  TABORA 


47 


sugar,  that  it  was  not  an  unfamiliar  beverage.  The  tea 
she  consumed  entirely  herself,  but  a  large  slice  of  cake 
was  discreetly  nibbled,  and  then  passed  on  to  her  husband 
and  the  rest  of  her  household  to  finish.  She  had  already 
presented  us  with  a  pot  of  beer,  of  which  we  found 
quantities  in  process  of  brewing  on  our  arrival,  and  later 
twice  repeated  the  gift,  invariably  tasting  it  herself  before  it 
was  handed  to  us.  It  was  a  little  thin  at  first,  but  evidently 
grew  mellow  within  the  next  few  hours,  and  the  penetrat- 
ing harangue  to  which  she  treated  her  husband  shortly 
after  the  middle  of  the  following  night  testified  to  its 
potency  when  taken  in  sufficiently  generous  doses.  Our 
second  day's  halt  was  mainly  with  the  object  of  trying  to 
shoot  some  game,  in  which  our  hostess  assured  us  the 
neighbourhood  abounded,  but  of  which  it  was  a  long 
time  since  she  had  had  a  taste. 

The  evening  of  the  first  day  was  unsuccessful,  but  the 
following  morning  spent  in  the  finely  timbered  forest 
belt,  spreading  for  a  few  miles  to  the  south  of  the  village, 
resulted  in  a  bag  of  two  mpala  and  two  warthog,  one  of 
each  of  which  formed  a  welcome  addition  to  her  larder 
and  ours. 

Our  next  definite  objective  was  the  Ugalla  River,  which 
forms  the  administrative  boundary  between  the  Ujiji  and 
Tabora  districts,  and  on  which  we  had  heard  that  there 
were  great  quantities  and  several  varieties  of  game.  The 
rocks  were  changing  from  granite  to  conglomerate,  and 
part  of  our  route  was  over  uncomfortably  steep  and  stony 
hills,  through  a  country  so  badly  watered  that  even  in 
August  the  sole  supply  was  from  isolated  and  inadequate 
holes,  sometimes  covered  with  a  screen  of  palm  leaves  for 
protection  from  sun  and  dust,  dug  in  the  beds  of  dried-up 
rivulets,  which  later  in  the  year  must  with  difficulty  have 
afforded  a  sufficiency  even  for  the  barest  needs  of  the 
population.  At  the  village  of  a  delightful  old  chief  called 
Kasamia,  whose  sole  clothing  consisted  of  a  scanty  loin 
cloth,  a  bunch  of  medicine  charms  round  his  neck  and 
two  solitary  fangs  in  a  mobile  and  humorous  mouth,  and 
whose  cordial  welcome  of  us  and  despotic  handling  of  his 


48      THROUGH   THE  HEART  OF  AFRICA 


people  were  particularly  refreshing,  we  noticed  the  first 
example  of  the  change  from  the  ordinary  circular  to  the 
"  tembo "  architecture  in  the  native  huts.  The  latter, 
which  is  apparently  due  to  Arab  influence,  was  particularly 
well  shown  in  a  village  at  which  we  camped  the  following 
day,  and  of  w^hich  we  made  a  careful  plan.  The  principal 
features  are  the  flat  and  almost  horizontal  roofs,  plastered 
with  a  thick  coating  of  mud,  on  which  there  is  generally 
a  large  crop  of  grass,  the  long  narrow  compartments  into 
which  the  huts  are  divided  and  the  formation  by  the 
walls  of  the  huts  themselves,  of  a  self-contained  and  com- 
pletely closed  in  fortress.  Some  of  the  carved  wooden 
doors,  evidently  of  considerable  age,  as  well  as  the 
markedly  foreign  type  of  utensils,  e.g.  bellows,  ladles,  and 
trays,  of  which  we  secured  some  photographs,  also  betrayed 
the  influence  of  Arab  settlement  or  incursions,  while  a 
peculiar  and  probably  purely  native  use  of  the  bark  of 
large  trees  was  seen  in  the  construction  of  pigeon  cotes, 
corn  bins,  and  even  the  roofs  of  open  shelters.  From 
Kasamia's,  where  there  were  cattle  apparently  thriving  in 
spite  of  it,  tsetse  fly  abounded  along  the  whole  route,  and 
in  some  spots  were  so  persistent  in  their  attacks  as  to  be 
almost  unbearable.  Among  the  old  spoor  of  various  kinds 
of  game,  that  of  giraffe  was  far  the  most  plentiful,  the 
track  itself  and  the  bush  at  the  side  of  it  being  almost 
continuously  dented  with  it.  Little  of  it,  however,  was 
at  all  fresh,  most  of  it  apparently  dating  from  the  previous 
rains.  One  herd  of  elephant  had  crossed  our  track  some 
two  days  before ;  we  bagged  a  jackal  and  hartebeeste  (the 
jackal  a  galloping  shot  with  a  Greener  .310),  but  saw  little 
other  game  until  within  a  few  miles  of  the  Ugalla  River. 

Komekeshya's  small  village,  w^here  we  camped  on  the 
last  day  of  August,  was  notable  as  enclosing  within  its 
compound  the  two  largest  mitaiva  or  bark-cloth  trees  we 
had  ever  seen.  Round  the  thinnest  part  of  their  trunks 
{i.e.  between  the  swelling  of  the  roots  below  and  the 
thickening  as  they  branched  above)  they  measured  respec- 
tively 8  feet  8  inches  and  12  feet  10  inches  in  circumfer- 
ence, whereas  these  trees  are  usually  regularly  stripped  of 


RUKWA  TO  TABORA 


49 


their  bark  for  making  cloth,  these,  besides  being  evidently 
of  great  age,  had  never  been  mutilated  in  any  way.  It 
was  while  resting  in  the  shade  of  one  of  the  trees  that 
the  headman  produced  a  rather  rare  and  remarkable  pet 
in  the  shape  of  a  scaly  manis,  which  he  sold  to  us  for  one 
rupee.  Though  the  natives  were  mortally  afraid  of  it  and 
declared  that  it  was  a  vicious  biter,  we  soon  found  that  it 
was  perfectly  harmless,  quiet,  and  inclined  to  be  tame.  We 
kept  it  for  three  or  four  days,  during  which  we  amused 
ourselves  in  the  evening  by  studying  its  quaint  gait  and 
quainter  physique  as  it  ambled  leisurely  about  our  camp 
looking  for  ants  and  other  insects  ;  but  one  morning  we 
woke  up  to  find  to  our  intense  annoyance  that,  by  the 
carelessness  of  the  boy  responsible  for  its  security,  the 
beast  had  got  out  of  its  box  and  wandered  away  into  the 
bush,  never  to  be  seen  again. 

On  arriving  at  another  village  at  which  we  had  thought 
of  camping,  we  were  advised  by  the  inhabitants  to  go  a 
stage  farther,  because  there  were  two  cases  of  small- 
pox amongst  them. 

As  they  were  crowding  round  us  themselves  and  were 
obviously  taking  no  sort  of  precautions  to  prevent  the 
spread  of  the  contagion,  we  at  first  felt  a  trifle  uneasy,  but 
when  they  assured  us  that  they  (a  couple  of  dozen  who 
were  standing  round)  had  all  had  it,  and  we  noticed  that 
not  a  single  one  had  any  traces  of  the  disease,  we  came 
to  the  conclusion  that  it  must  have  been  chicken-pox  or 
some  other  minor  ailment.  In  choosing  our  camp  that 
evening  we  were  entirely  misdirected  by  an  af¥able  and 
intoxicated  lady  of  rather  distinguished  if  gaudy  appear- 
ance, by  whose  advice  we  went  at  least  seven  miles  out  of 
our  way.  We  met  her  again  the  following  day  at  the 
village  of  a  very  youthful  chief  of  the  Agulu  tribe,  named 
Mbaula,  who  had  just  succeeded  to  the  position,  and  found 
that  she,  quite  old  enough  to  be  his  mother,  was  his  chief 
wife  thrown  in  with  the  position  !  For  amongst  most 
Bantu  people  an  heir  invariably  takes  over  his  prede- 
cessor's wives.  She  was  still  a  little  drunk  and  more 
debonair  than  ever,  which  suggested  that  she  possibly  had 

D 


50      THROUGH   THE   HEART   OF  AFRICA 


sent  us  out  of  our  way  so  as  to  give  herself  time  for  a 
finishing  touch  to  her  toilet,  and  her  first  consideration 
was  to  see  that  we,  too,  were  generously  supplied  with 
beer.  As  may  be  inferred,  it  was  the  beer  season,  and 
the  entire  population  of  this  neighbourhood  seemed  for 
the  time  to  have  forsaken  all  other  forms  of  nutriment. 

Before  we  succeeded  in  actually  reaching  the  Ugalla 
River  we  had  still  further  examples  of  the  utter  unrelia- 
bility of  the  natives'  estimate  of  direction  and  distance. 
In  fact,  after  thinking  we  had  reached  it  at  least  twice, 
we  began  to  despair  of  reaching  it  at  all,  if  not  actually 
to  doubt  of  its  existence.  When  we  finally  crossed  it  on 
the  3rd  September,  the  bed  was  mostly  dry,  and  water 
only  remained  in  a  series  of  stagnant  pools,  but  its 
neighbourhood  justified  its  reputation  as  a  haunt  of  game. 
For  the  last  ten  or  twelve  miles  the  bush  at  either  side  of 
our  route  was  full  of  it,  and  without  making  a  long  halt 
we  saw  topi,  hartebeeste,  roan,  sable,  reedbuck,  and  bagged 
two  roan  (out  of  an  extraordinarily  tame  herd  at  our 
camp),  and  a  leopard  at  about  10  a.m.,  a  few  hours  before 
getting  there.  The  thick  jungle  on  both  banks  was  full 
of  bird-life,  and  the  woods  for  miles  round  were  criss- 
crossed with  game  tracks  running  from  all  directions  down 
to  the  river  ;  we  stayed  here  two  nights  and,  including 
elephant  and  hippopotamus,  of  which  we  only  saw  the 
fresh  spoor,  we  found  no  less  than  seventeen  different 
species  of  game. 

An  hour  or  two  after  pitching  camp  a  crocodile  was 
reported  in  the  pool  at  which  the  natives  were  drawing 
water.  One  of  us  went  to  investigate,  and  at  5.30  a  gun 
boy  returning  to  camp  for  more  ammunition,  the  other 
joined  him  and  found  he  had  already  bagged  six.  We 
spent  the  rest  of  the  evening  sitting  on  the  high  bank 
under  the  shelter  of  the  thick  shrubbery,  ruthlessly  picking 
off  the  noisome  reptiles  one  by  one  as  they  came  up  to 
the  surface  for  a  breath.  The  attacks  of  the  tsetse  fly 
and  of  the  mosquitoes  as  the  sun  got  lower  were  pretty 
nearly  unbearable,  but  w^e  added  another  six  huge  victims 
to  the  bag  before  approaching  darkness  warned  us  that  it 


RUKWA  TO  TABORA 


51 


was  time  to  return  to  camp.  On  our  way  back  we  almost 
ran  into  a  herd  of  zebra  strolling  unconcernedly  towards 
the  river  for  their  evening  drink,  but  we  left  them  alone 
and  contented  ourselves  with  bringing  down  a  brace  of 
guinea-fowl  out  of  the  dozens  that  were  coming  chattering 
along  to  roost  in  the  branches  of  nearly  every  tree  of  any 
size  on  either  bank. 

Our  night's  rest  was  undisturbed  except  by  the  restless- 
ness of  the  three  dogs  that  we  had  with  us,  who  kept  barking 
now  and  again  during  the  night  and  making  occasional 
rushes  into  the  gloom  beyond  the  firelight.  In  the 
morning  we  found  that  two  lions  had  been  strolling  round 
the  camp  on  their  way  down  to  the  water,  and  in  passing 
had  evidently  stood  for  a  while  and  taken  a  good  look  at 
us,  from  fifteen  to  sixteen  paces  from  our  tents. 

As  this  was  probably  to  be  our  best  chance  of  any 
good  shooting  that  side  of  Tabora — and  the  local  natives, 
two  of  whose  villages  were  close  to  our  camp,  begged  us 
to  shoot  them  some  meat  to  supplement  their  diminished 
food  supply — we  decided  to  stay  another  day,  and  the 
following  morning  one  made  an  early  start  to  try  the 
grazing  grounds  that  lay  to  the  north-east,  away  from 
the  river. 

By  9  o'clock  and  less  than  four  miles  from  camp  a 
bag  of  six  sable  and  one  mpala  had  been  secured,  and 
roan,  reedbuck,  hartebeeste,  warthog,  and  giraffe  had  been 
seen  on  the  way.  The  last-named  were  a  huge  pair, 
sighted  at  about  300  yards,  lurching  away  into  the  distance. 
The  roan  and  topi  were  a  little  wary,  but  the  sable,  mostly 
young,  were  extraordinarily  tame,  and  could  without  much 
difficulty  have  been  completely  wiped  out. 

Towards  evening  another  visit  was  paid  to  the  crocodile 
pools,  and  four  more  victims  were  accounted  for — one 
was  a  young  one,  which  fell  to  a  ball-and-shot  gun  as  it 
lay  asleep  on  the  bank.  The  Greener  .310  again  surprised 
us  by  completely  perforating  the  body  of  a  wounded 
monster  as  he  rolled  and  twisted  about  on  the  surface. 
Some  three  or  four  of  them  crawled  out  on  to  the  bank 
when  wounded,  and  enabled  us  to  realise  their  hideous 


52      THROUGH  THE   HEART  OF  AFRICA 


bulk  ;  the  remainder  sank  where  they  were  shot,  to  rise 
again  after  a  short  interval,  their  tails  lashing  and  churn- 
ing up  the  filthy  water  in  their  furious  contortions,  and 
finally  either  entirely  floating  or  remaining  suspended  in 
the  water  with  a  nose,  a  tail  or  a  gleaming  yellow  belly 
protruding  above  the  surface.  A  skull  of  a  waterbuck  and 
a  few  horns  and  bones  at  the  edge  of  the  pools  bore 
witness  to  the  gruesome  fate  that  was  awaiting  the  unwary 
antelope  as  he  came  down  to  quench  his  thirst.  The 
danger  of  approaching  too  close,  as  well  as  the  loathsome 
state  of  the  stagnant  fluid,  had  forced  the  natives  to  dig 
holes  in  the  sand  at  a  discreet  distance  and  wait  for  the 
water  to  filter  through,  and  we  felt  not  the  slightest  com- 
punction in  executing  as  many  of  the  disgusting  brutes  as 
we  possibly  could. 

The  sun  was  already  too  far  below  the  horizon  when 
we  left  the  scene  of  slaughter  for  us  to  make  an  attempt  to 
secure  any  of  the  numerous  wildfowl  that  were  whirring 
and  whistling  overhead,  so  with  a  couple  of  pigeons  and 
another  guinea-fowl  for  the  pot  we  hastened  back  to  camp. 
In  the  deepening  dusk  about  half-way  w^e  espied  the  form 
of  a  fat  waterbuck  something  less  than  50  yards  away  on 
the  opposite  bank  of  the  river-bed.  It  was  too  tempting 
to  resist ;  a  couple  of  shots  from  a  .360  knocked  him  over, 
and  on  our  arrival  in  camp  just  after  dark  we  sent  a 
handful  of  natives  to  fetch  him  in.  They  were  not  en- 
thusiastic about  it,  even  when  given  a  lanthorn  and  a  gun, 
but  they  went,  and  in  less  than  an  hour  they  were  back 
again,  empty-handed,  declaring  there  was  no  beast  there 
for  them  to  bring  in.  We  were  convinced  that  there  was, 
for  it  was  certain  that  the  waterbuck  hadn't  got  as  much 
as  a  kick  in  him  when  we  came  away  ;  and,  suspecting 
that  they  had  been  thinking  rather  too  much  about  lions 
to  make  a  thorough  search,  we  told  off  our  hunter 
Chumamaboko  to  take  them  back  again,  and,  reinforced 
by  an  acetylene  lamp  and  another  gun,  to  be  sure  of 
finding  the  correct  spot.  Chuma  didn't  exactly  jump  at 
it  either,  but  he  obeyed  without  any  express  demur. 
However,  he  hadn't  been  gone  more  than  half  an  hour 


RUKWA  TO  TABORA 


53 


before  he  was  back  with  the  same  story.  There  was  no 
waterbuck :  only  unmistakable  signs  of  its  having  been 
dragged  away  in  a  thick  belt  of  jungle.  Some  lazy  im- 
pudent beast  of  a  lion  had  evidently  been  hanging  round 
for  the  chance  of  a  cheap  meal,  and  hadn't  been  long  in 
picking  it  up  either.  There  was  nothing  for  it  but  for  us 
to  sally  forth  ourselves.  It  was  pitch  dark  and  quite  im- 
possible for  us  to  find  our  way  through  the  tangled 
undergrowth,  and,  a  fortiori,  to  ascertain  what  had  happened 
without  an  effective  light  ;  so,  arming  ourselves  with  a 
ball-and-shot  gun  and  an  ordinary  scatter  gun  loaded 
with  S.S.G.,  we  set  out,  carrying  the  acetylene  light,  which, 
while  likely  to  spoil  any  chance  of  a  shot  by  frightening 
the  beast  from  its  prey,  was  not  to  be  despised  as  afford- 
ing a  safeguard  against  attack. 

We  might  just  as  well  have  stayed  in  camp,  however, 
for  Chumamaboko's  account  had  been,  we  found,  a  per- 
fectly correct  one  ;  and  though  we  found  the  spot  where 
the  waterbuck  had  fallen,  and  followed  the  spoor  of  the 
lion  and  the  buck  as  it  had  been  dragged  through  the 
thickets  for  no  little  way,  we  found  progress  slow,  and, 
not  hearing  anything  of  the  marauder,  came  to  the  con- 
clusion that  he  must  have  taken  his  meal  a  considerable 
distance,  and  we  returned  to  camp. 

That  night,  being  fairly  certain  of  another  visit  from  the 
lions  and  hoping  for  the  chance  of  bagging  one,  we  gave 
orders  to  our  boys  to  call  us  immediately  should  they 
be  detected  close  at  hand.  From  eight  or  nine  o'clock 
the  dogs  were  incessantly  on  the  alert.  We  went  to  bed 
at  our  usual  time,  and  for  some  time  heard  nothing 
except  the  occasional  uneasy  barks  of  the  dogs,  and  the 
snoring  of  the  natives  round  the  fire.  Just  after  midnight, 
however,  a  probably  excellent  chance  was  just  missed  ;  the 
boy  who  was  to  wake  us  saw  one  of  the  lions  at  about  12 
yards,  from  just  beyond  one  of  the  outer  fires,  and  cauti- 
ously creeping  up  with  the  object  apparently  of  bagging 
the  dog  that  was  barking  at  him.  The  boy  came  and  told 
us  at  once,  but  it  was  too  late  ;  by  the  time  we  had 
emerged  from  our  tents,  the  lion,  probably  put  on  his 


54      THROUGH  THE   HEART  OF  AFRICA 

guard,  had  vanished.  Two  minutes  later,  however,  we  had 
a  rather  rare  and  somewhat  alarming  experience  of  hearing 
him  giving  chase  to  a  small  buck  just  outside  the  range 
of  our  firelight.  The  convulsive  grunt  of  the  lion  as  he 
bounded  after  his  victim,  and  the  frantic  squeals  of  the 
buck,  which  did  not,  apparently,  get  caught,  brought  our 
carriers  to  their  feet  in  no  time  expecting  all  sorts  of  un- 
pleasant possibilities.  Chuma,  lifting  himself  up  on  an 
elbow,  looked  round  sleepily  and  said  with  some  contempt 
"  Chimbwe  " — which  means  "  hyaena  " — and  went  to  sleep 
again.  The  lions  were  not  taking  any  more  risks,  and  we 
were  not  disturbed  again,  Chuma  was  led  round  in  the 
morning  to  inspect  the  spoor  all  round  the  camp — and 
had  to  apologise. 

It  was  a  tempting  place  to  stop  at,  but  as  we  wanted 
to  get  to  Tabora  without  any  further  pauses,  we  had  to 
tear  ourselves  away.  At  the  end  of  the  next  two  days' 
journey,  chiefly  remarkable  for  the  amount  of  tsetse  fly 
and  giraffe  spoor  on  the  way,  we  struck  one  of  the  Bis- 
marckburg  and  Tabora  roads  at  a  village  called  Kakoma's. 

This  village  presented  no  features  of  especial  interest, 
and  we  would  have  pushed  on  a  stage  farther  had  we  not 
been  told  by  the  local  natives  that  there  was  no  village  or 
water  within  three  hours — although  we  doubted  this,  our 
ignorance  of  the  country  made  us  decide  to  camp  there, 
and  we  felt  fairly  annoyed  the  next  day  at  finding  villages 
with  water  at  i,  4,  13,  15,  17  and  18J  miles,  the  second 
one  being  one  they  had  told  us  was  three  hours  off. 

The  village  at  i8|  miles  was  quite  a  big  place,  inhabited 
by  the  Wa-Gunda  and  ruled  over  by  Kalula,  a  big  stout 
woman,  who  visited  us  at  our  camp  outside  the  village. 
Carried  on  a  man's  shoulders  and  wearing  some  gorgeous 
cheap  clothes  and  a  white  helmet,  she  brought  her  own 
chair  with  her,  and  sat  down  in  the  open  barn-like  shelter 
allotted  to  Europeans  and  conversed  with  us  in  Ki-Swahili 
for  some  time.  She  then  returned  to  her  quarters  and 
sent  the  women  of  the  village  to  fetch  water  for  us,  and 
also  told  them  to  bring  plenty  of  food  to  barter  for  the 
meat  with  which  our  carriers  were  plentifully  supplied  ; 


A  Temko  village  (to  kicht  ok  background).    Beehives  in  trees 

IN  THE  FOREGROUND. 


In  a  Mugunua  Village.    In  the  koregkound  is  a  naiive  bed. 


RUKWA  TO  TABORA 


55 


this  was  a  suggestion  that  was  readily  enough  compHed 
with,  and  throughout  the  afternoon  the  camping  was  a 
busy  scene  of  hagghng  and  chattering  natives,  a  thin  con- 
tinuous stream  of  old  hags,  buxom  matrons,  lithe  young 
girls  and  little  children  coming  with  their  tiny  bowls  and 
baskets  of  flour  and  going  with  their  still  tinier  bits  of 
meat.  No  one,  of  course,  was  ever  satisfied  with  a  bargain, 
but  it  was  all  good-natured  and  seemed  to  be  rather  a 
joke  to  be  cheated  than  a  ground  of  serious  complaint. 

As  a  rule,  the  women  drive  a  fairly  hard  bargain,  as 
they  know  that  the  porters  must  have  the  flour  at  any 
price ;  but  at  Kalula's  the  women  came  in  such  large 
numbers  and  all  wanted  meat  so  badly  that  for  once  the 
competition  was  the  other  way  round,  and  the  carriers  ob- 
tained good  supplies  of  flour,  kasava,  beans,  &c.,  without 
making  serious  inroads  upon  their  supply  of  dried  meat, 

Kalula's  village  is  well  built  and  consists  of  many  fine 
huts,  both  round  and  rectangular,  but  the  outstanding 
feature  was  Kalula's  own  house,  a  large  two-storied 
building  of  sun-dried  bricks,  which  at  the  time  of  our  visit 
was  being  more  or  less  reconstructed — the  walls  and  first 
floor  heightened,  the  roof  altered,  and  a  verandah  being 
added. 

Originally  built  in  1907,  it  measures  about  60  by  45 
feet  and  is  about  30  feet  high.  The  roof  timber,  window- 
frames,  bars  in  the  windows,  door-frames  and  doors  are 
all  made  of  massive  sawn  timber,  and  the  bricks  are 
well  laid,  though  the  angles  and  lines  are  hardly  marked 
by  mathematical  accuracy.  Nevertheless,  considering 
the  fact  that  it  is  the  work  of  unsupervised  native 
labour,  the  result  is  almost  as  creditable  as  the  plan  is 
ambitious. 

The  Germans  apparently  make  a  point  of  placing 
women  in  power,  in  succession  to  male  chiefs  who  die  or 
are  removed,  as  being  less  likely  to  cause  trouble.  The 
predecessor  of  our  friend  Muchereka  was  a  chief  who  used 
to  amuse  himself  by  shooting  the  old  men  in  his  village, 
because,  he  said,  the  hawks  were  hungry.  The  German 
authorities  got  a  bit  tired  of  this  and  deposed  him,  placing 


56      THROUGH  THE  HEART  OF  AFRICA 


him  in  a  small  village  by  himself.  He  then  appealed  for 
a  gun  on  account  of  the  lions,  but  received  no  more  com- 
fort than  to  be  told  that  he  had  better  trap  them.  How- 
ever, before  long  he  managed  to  secure  a  firearm  of  some 
kind  from  some  one  and  shot  the  first  old  man  who  was 
rash  enough  to  visit  him.  After  this  exploit  he  was 
arrested  and  taken  to  Ujiji,  where  he  still  languishes,  and 
Muchereka  was  appointed  in  his  stead.  Similarly  on  the 
execution  of  Pirula,  the  Mutwaki  chief  of  the  Wafipa,  the 
late  Sa  (predecessor  of  the  lady  of  that  name  whom  we 
met)  was  put  in  his  place. 

Three  of  our  seven  Rhodesian  boys  being  a  bit  seedy, 
we  rested  the  next  day,  one  going  out  to  get  some  meat 
for  our  hostess  and  securing  a  roan,  while  the  other  re- 
mained in  camp  writing  letters — which  was  rather  diffi- 
cult, as  a  tremendous  and  erratic  wind  arose  which  got 
hold  of  everything  that  was  not  tied  down,  and  blew  the 
lighter  articles  to  the  four  points  of  the  compass.  The  spare 
fly  in  front  of  one  of  the  tents  was  swept  away,  and  while 
the  two  tents  were  still  suffering  from  the  attack,  a  dust 
devil  came  along  and  nearly  lifted  one  of  them  bodily 
from  the  ground.  Luckily  some  of  our  staff  were  near 
and  held  on  to  the  ropes  for  dear  life,  saving  it  from 
a  violent  journey  into  the  clouds.  Tents  and  men  were 
both  flapping  about  in  a  limp  and  helpless  attitude  when 
the  dust  devil  passed  on  to  wreck  the  nearest  thatched  roof. 

Anything  more  uninviting  than  the  country  round 
Kalula's  it  would  be  difficult  to  imagine.  How  this  poor 
soil,  clothed  with  a  wretched  scrub,  manages  to  support 
even  the  small  scattered  population  that  exists  here  it 
is  hard  to  guess.  It  is  not  apparently  even  a  good  grazing 
country,  for  since  we  left  the  Kavu  River  a  fortnight  previ- 
ously the  large  flocks  of  sheep  and  goats  had  dwindled 
down  to  few  or  none,  and  Kasamia's  and  Kalula's  were 
the  only  two  villages  in  which  there  were  any  cattle. 
Maize  is  the  staple  crop,  but  as  the  villages  remain  in  the 
same  places  year  after  year,  the  soil,  which  can  never  have 
been  anything  but  poor,  is  so  exhausted  that  but  very  poor 
returns  are  obtained. 


RUKWA  TO  TABORA  57 

The  natives  are  very  friendly  and  respectful  to  the 
stranger,  and  never  failed  to  treat  us  with  courtesy  in 
all  their  dealings  with  us.  They  seem  a  contented  and 
fairly  prosperous  community  in  spite  of  the  poor  country 
in  which  they  have  to  spend  their  lives,  and  there  was  at 
any  rate  no  apparent  chafing  at  the  German  rule. 

The  only  notable  features  after  leaving  Kalula's  were 
a  fine  belt  of  timber  beginning  at  30  miles  from  Tabora, 
the  cessation  of  tsetse  fly,  an  interesting  change  of  native 
diet,  and  the  second  example  of  the  pretentious  palaces 
which  some  of  these  chiefs  build  for  themselves.  The 
timber  belt,  which  extended  for  some  7  miles,  was  a 
refreshing  change  after  the  long  scrubby  stretch  of  coun- 
try, devoid  of  anything  worth  calling  a  tree,  through 
which  we  had  been  passing.  In  this  belt  we  found  two 
deserted  sawpit-camps  and  a  third  in  full  working,  in 
which  we  saw  several  hundred  fine  straight  logs  about 
25  feet  long  and  from  9  to  30  inches  in  diameter.  The 
wood  was  of  a  good  hard  type  not  unlike  elm,  lighter 
in  colour  than  the  teak-like  wood  {rnalombwa)  so  com- 
mon in  Northern  Rhodesia,  and  lacking  both  the  soft 
white  outer  edge  of  the  same  tree  and  the  red-black 
core  of  the  mopani.  This  timber,  which  is  locally  called 
mukula,  is  excellent  material  for  general  carpenter- 
ing and  cabinet  work.  The  fly  belt  ended  about  12 
miles  south  of  Tabora,  and  at  about  the  same  spot  we 
found  ourselves  among  a  people  whose  staple  food  was 
no  longer  maize,  but  kasava.  This  change  from  cereals 
to  roots  was  rather  curious,  as  at  Tabora  itself  and  for 
a  long  way  to  the  north  of  it  the  natives  eat  kaffir  corn 
(sorghum). 

The  "  palace,"  which  was  built  after  the  same  model 
and  on  the  same  scale  as  Kalula's,  but  was  in  a  finished 
state,  was  the  residence  of  the  Itetemia,  the  chief  who 
rules  over  the  flat  bare  country  covered  with  granite 
kopjes  that  are  a  striking  feature  of  the  environs  of 
Tabora. 

The  road  winds  in  and  out  of  these  rocks  without 
giving  any  indication  of  what  lies  beyond,  and  on  Sep- 


58      THROUGH  THE   HEART  OF  AFRICA 


tember  i  ith,  on  turning  a  corner,  we  came  quite  suddenly 
on  the  township  of  Tabora,  lying  at  our  feet,  with  its 
fine  old  mango  trees  closely  dotted  over  the  rolling  plains, 
presenting  the  appearance  of  a  veritable  oasis  in  the  midst 
of  the  bare  landscape.  The  morning  sun  had  not  yet 
attained  much  strength  as  we  came  to  the  first  street 
sign  we  had  seen  for  a  very  long  time,  and  found  our- 
selves in  "  Itetemia  Strasse,"  out  of  which  we  turned  to- 
wards the  fort  to  call  on  the  Commandant,  or  Governor, 
of  the  District, 


V 


TABORA 

Cordial  reception  by  the  officials — Engagement  of  carriers — The  market 
— The  mission — Description  of  the  town — Absence  of  any  form  of 
recreation  grounds — Herr  Siegel,  the  Distrikts  Kommissar — Trans- 
port via  the  Uganda  Railway — Curious  contention  of  the  Germans — 
The  effect  of  the  German  railway  from  Dar-es-Salam  on  this 
traffic  and  on  Tabora. 

The  Government  buildings,  just  as  fort-like  as  those  at 
Bismarckburg  though  better  and  more  artistically  built, 
stand  on  a  rocky  spur  at  the  junction  of  the  Kilimatinde 
and  Bismarckburg  roads  and  look  down  upon  the  town- 
ship spreading  away  to  the  north  and  north-west.  They 
are  constructed  of  granite  with  red  iron  roofs,  and 
consist  of  a  large  square,  the  sides  of  which  are  occupied 
by  offices  and  mess-rooms.  On  reaching  the  gates,  at 
which  we  were  agreeably  impressed  and  surprised  at  our 
courteous  reception  by  the  sentries,  we  learnt  that  the 
Commandant  was  away  on  safari,  and  his  deputy  and 
assistant  had  gone  out  shooting — it  being  Sunday — but 
were  expected  back  shortly,  and  meanwhile,  guided  by 
a  trooper  told  off  for  our  escort  by  the  Sergeant  of  the 
guard,  we  proceeded  to  call  upon  Herr  Siegel,  the 
Distrikts  Kommissar  —  District  Commissioner  —  at  his 
quarters  a  few  hundred  yards  down  Bahnhof  Strasse,  a 
tine  street  leading  away  from  the  Fort  to  the  north- 
west. He  met  us  at  his  door  and  gave  us  a  most 
friendly  welcome,  from  which  we  learnt  with  pleasure 
that  he  spoke  excellent  English.  On  learning  that  we 
preferred  our  tents  to  the  hotel — of  the  existence  of 
which  we  learnt  with  some  surprise — he  took  us  a  little 
farther  down  the  Strasse  and  showed  us  an  excellent 
spot  on  the  road,  and  in  the  shelter  of  a  group  of  mag- 
nificent old  mangoes,  at  which  to  pitch  our  camp. 

59 


6o      THROUGH  THE  HEART  OF  AFRICA 


He  then  invited  us  to  accompany  him  to  the  Boma, 
where  we  enjoyed  a  very  welcome  drink  in  the  official 
mess.  Herren  Knach  and  Busch  had  meanwhile  returned, 
and  presently  joined  us.  Neither  was  more  than  slightly 
acquainted  with  English,  but  the  sincerity  of  their  welcome 
to  us  was  sufficiently  obvious,  and  they  insisted  on  us 
being  their  guests  while  at  Tabora. 

They  were  hungry  after  their  morning's  shoot,  and 
our  breakfast  we  had  almost  forgotten,  so  we  sat  down 
to  a  meal  of  beefsteaks  and  Guinness  and  Pilsener.  We 
had  done  ourselves  thoroughly  well  by  the  time  our 
hosts  rose,  saying  it  was  time  to  shed  their  bush  togs, 
and  it  came  as  a  shock  to  be  told  that  we  should,  of 
course,  be  expected  to  come  and  enjoy  the  warthog 
at  12  o'clock  lunch.  It  was  only  10.30  and  the  meal 
we  had  been  sharing  was  the  sportsmen's  breakfast ! 
'Twere  ungrateful  to  shirk  it  ;  an  effort  had  to  be  made, 
and,  though  we  rather  doubted  the  sufficiency  of  an 
hour's  rest  in  camp  to  produce  another  appetite  at  so 
short  a  notice,  we  turned  up  again  at  noon,  for  that 
warthog-liver  lunch,  and,  what  is  more,  we  did  it  justice. 

Dinner  at  7.30  was  another  enjoyable  meal,  at  which 
we  were  the  same  party  as  at  lunch  with  one  addition, 
but  the  evening  ended  early,  our  host  very  sensibly 
remarking  at  about  9.15  that  it  was  time  for  bed.  A 
notable  feature  of  the  meal  was  that  we  were  served 
with  the  famous  black  bread,  which  we,  both  of  us, 
preferred  to  the  brown,  and  the  brown  was  equal  to 
any  average  English  loaf. 

One  of  our  first  tasks  now  was  to  collect  another 
gang  of  men  to  act  as  carriers  for  the  journey  to 
Mwanza.  We  had  written  some  time  before  our  arrival 
to  the  Officer  in  charge  at  Tabora  asking  him  if  he  could 
be  of  assistance  to  us  in  the  matter.  Knowing  of  some 
other  travellers  who  had  had  to  wait  over  a  week  at 
Tabora  under  identical  circumstances,  we  were  a  little 
anxious,  even  after  an  assurance  that  there  would  be  no 
trouble  in  raising  men,  when  we  learnt  that,  in  compliance 
with  our  request,  it  was  intended  to  send  out  for  men 


TABORA 


6i 


the  folloiving  day.  But  early  next  morning  we  were 
awakened  by  the  news  that  three  or  four  of  our 
Bismarckburg  gang,  however,  had  decided  to  come  on,  ten 
volunteers  had  joined  us  at  the  Ugalla  River,  and  with 
some  more  volunteers  that  had  applied  for  employment 
the  previous  evening,  there  were  now  altogether  fifty  men 
who  were  anxious  to  go  with  us  to  Mwanza ;  so  there 
was  after  all  not  much  cause  for  alarm. 

The  fact  was  that,  owing  to  the  large  number  of  loads 
arriving  at  Mwanza  ex  Europe  via  Kilindini,  the  Uganda 
Railway  and  Kisumu  for  German  East  Africa,  there  was 
constant  employment  for  thousands  of  carriers  at  Mwanza. 
The  Wanyamwezi — though  nothing  will  induce  them  to 
work  in  the  rains — are  in  the  dry  season  only  too  ready 
to  accept  any  employment  that  will  take  them  to  a  dis- 
tribution centre  like  Mwanza.  By  ten  o'clock  we  had 
all  but  the  required  number,  when  Herr  Siegel,  who  had 
put  himself  at  our  service  for  a  few  hours,  arrived  at  our 
camp  and  made  clear  to  them,  in  what  we  thought  the 
most  admirable  manner,  their  conditions  of  service.  They 
were  to  get  Rs.5.50  for  the  trip  to  Mwanza,  R.  1.50  in 
advance  as  food  allowance,  and  Rs.4  on  arrival  at  Mwanza. 
This  was  an  improvement  on  the  rate  at  which  we  had  to 
pay  our  Bismarckburg  men — 208  miles  for  Rs.5.50  as 
against  280  for  Rs.i8. 

With  Herr  Siegel  as  cicerone  we  then  did  a  tour  of 
the  town.  First  to  the  Post-Office,  where  information  was 
given  and  our  business  dealt  with  with  courtesy  and  de- 
spatch, and  where  we  learnt  the  dates  of  sailing  of  the 
Uganda  Railway  boats  at  Mwanza  ;  then  to  the  Hotel, 
which  is  also  one  of  three  principal  European  stores, 
where  we  were  able  to  make  quite  a  number  of  useful 
additions  to  our  stock  of  provisions,  then  through  a  fine 
avenue  of  old  miiawa  trees,  the  branches  of  which  met  over- 
head, on  to  the  Indian  bazaar,  which  provided  us  with  a 
few  items,  e.g.  paraffin,  flour,  and  potatoes,  that  we  had 
not  been  able  to  get  at  the  hotel,  and  so  to  the  native 
market,  which  we  found  in  full  swing.  It  is  carried  on  in 
four  large  thickly  thatched  buildings  with  open  sides,  each- 


62      THROUGH  THE   HEART  OF  AFRICA 


consisting,  in  fact,  of  a  roof  on  heavy  pillars,  and  situated 
in  a  broad  square.  Two  of  the  buildings  are  devoted  to  the 
sale  of  a  variety  of  native  produce,  e.g.  snuff,  dried  kasava, 
meal  and  grain  of  all  kinds — maize,  millet,  sorghum — 
sugar-cane  and  soap — manufactured  from  wood  ashes  and 
butter  or  beef  fat — and  cheap  ornaments  of  European 
origin.  The  soap  vendors  may  be  seen  sitting  with  a  tray 
of  their  wares  before  them  sedulously  working  specimens 
of  it  into  a  lather  to  convince  intending  purchasers  of  its 
quality.  Of  the  other  two  buildings  one  seemed  to  be 
devoted  entirely  to  the  sale  of  meat — mostly  beef — which 
is  sold  at  5  heller  per  lb.  =  20  lbs.  for  one-and-fourpence, 
and  the  other  to  native  beer.  This  may  be  brewed  from 
any  of  the  local  grains,  e.g.  maize,  millet,  sorghum  or  a 
grass-like  seed  known  as  wuwere,  and  is  sold  retail  at  a 
heller  a  draught. 

We  were  not  a  little  impressed  by  the  decent  order 
that  prevailed  in  spite  of  the  constant  stream  of  buyers 
and  sellers.  A  small  guard  that  is  always  on  duty  in  the 
market-place  itself,  as  well  as  the  proximity  of  the  sub- 
sidiary fort,  evidently  have  no  difficulty  in  keeping  things 
quiet.  After  buying  two  rupees'  worth  of  beef — 40  lbs. — 
which  we  discovered  later  to  be  worth  just  about  what  we 
gave  for  it  and  no  more — we  returned  to  our  camp,  Herr 
Siegel  proceeding  to  his  quarters. 

After  lunch  we  first  finished  our  mails  and  then  we 
made  another  brief  tour,  this  time  with  cameras.  At  5 
P.M.  we  called  upon  Pere  Schmitt  and  his  colleagues  at 
the  French  Mission,  whose  buildings  and  garden  we  had 
passed  in  the  Mission  Strasse  on  the  way  to  and  from  the 
market.  The  Mission  house  is  a  fine  specimen  of  an  old 
Arab  dwelling,  adapted  to  European  needs.  It  is  of  a  fine 
height  with  steep,  pitched,  thatched  roof,  a  broad  verandah 
supported  by  the  original  fluted  wooden  pillars  ;  the  rooms 
are  small  but  cool.  The  Church,  which  stands  within  100 
yards  and  is  enclosed  by  the  same  high  wall,  is  simply 
built  of  sun-dried  bricks,  while  the  Sisters'  residence,  con- 
structed of  similar  materials,  lies  a  short  distance  off  in  a 
separate  compound. 


The  soap  vendors 


.  SITTING  .  .  .  SEDULOUSLY  WORKING  SPECIMENS 
OF   IT  INTO   A  LATHER." 


TABORA 


63 


Tabora  as  we  saw  it  will  soon  cease  to  exist  just  as  the 
old  Arab  Tabora  of  pre-European  days  has  already  dis- 
appeared, for  when  the  railway  arrives  early  in  191 2  the 
place  will  change  rapidly.  Of  the  old  Arab  settlement  a 
few  traces  only  remain,  the  greater  part  has  gone,  and  in 
the  place  of  irregularly  built  and  more  irregularly  placed 
hovels,  straight  streets  of  well-built  dwellings  are  being 
put  up.  The  groups  of  mangoes  in  every  direction,  avenues 
of  mangoes  and  mitawa  and  a  few  palms  stand  as  monu- 
ments to  the  Arab,  who  always  planted  where  he  settled. 
Pere  Schmitt  had  some  negatives  of  the  old  Arab  town 
and  its  market,  but  as  neither  he  nor  we  had  any  printing 
paper  we  could  not  get  any  prints.  Nothing  remains  now 
but  three  of  the  doors,  one  of  which  is  illustrated  in  this 
chapter,  a  few  scattered  doorways,  and  pillars,  the  best  of 
which  are  on  the  front  verandah  at  the  Mission. 

On  this  Arab  foundation  the  Germans  have  built,  as 
usual,  regardless  of  cost.  The  roads  are  fairly  broad 
and  very  well  kept,  being  in  every  case  planted  with 
trees  ;  some  old  mangoes  and  mitawa  of  the  Arab  days,  the 
majority  younger,  but  carrying  the  promise  of  shade  in 
the  future — and  at  Tabora  shade  is  a  considerable  asset. 
The  boma  is  a  fort,  which  was  built  to  supersede  the 
old  fort  by  the  market-place,  and  is  surrounded  by  a  wall 
above  which  rise  the  two-storied  buildings,  which  form 
the  corners,  connected  at  the  sides  by  lower  buildings. 
The  officials  do  not  live  within  the  fort,  which  from  one 
side  bears  a  distinct  resemblance  to  a  pagoda,  but  their 
dwellings  lie  on  either  side  of  Bahnhof  Strasse,  and  are 
well  built,  though  too  low  for  iron-roofed  buildings 
and  rather  small.  The  older  ones  have  gable  ends  and 
verandahs  back  and  front ;  the  newer  ones  are  octagonal 
with  pavilion  roofs  and  deep  verandah  rooms  on  four 
sides.  All  the  buildings  are  of  stone,  pointed  with  cement 
and  roofed  with  iron  ;  but  all  are  more  or  less  spoilt  by 
not  having  a  false  upper  storey  with  ventilators. 

Apart  from  the  Mission  the  dwelling-houses  and  busi- 
ness premises  of  the  non-official  European  population 
resemble  those  of  the  Government  Staff,  being  equally 


64      THROUGH  THE   HEART  OF  AFRICA 


well  built  but  suffering  from  the  same  defects  as  to 
insufficient  height. 

The  population  throughout  the  town,  as  in  the  market- 
place, is  orderly  and  the  place  far  quieter  than  one  would 
expect.  During  our  stay  we  saw  no  rowdiness,  and  the 
cleanliness  of  the  town  is  remarkable  considering  the 
number  and  nature  of  the  community.  This  order  and 
cleanliness  is  obtained  without  undue  parade  of  force  in 
the  shape  of  either  military  or  police. 

The  European  population  consists  of  two  officers  and 
two  sergeants  (in  charge  of  200  police),  perhaps  a  dozen 
civil  officials,  including  clerks,  and  fourteen  traders  and 
missionaries ;  and  with  a  population  of  this  size — no 
inconsiderable  township  for  Central  Africa — it  seems 
extraordinary  that  there  is  absolutely  no  recreation  ground 
of  any  kind  ;  though  Tabora  lies  on  what  can  best  be 
described  as  gigantic  and  perfect  golf  links,  which  would 
also  give  room  for  several  race- courses,  or  even  aero- 
dromes, and  tennis  courts  could  be  made  anywhere. 

In  the  evening  we  dined  once  more  at  the  fort,  and 
enjoyed  some  two  hours'  conversation  with  Herr  Siegel 
after  his  confreres  had  withdrawn.  He  was  charmingly 
hospitable,  genial,  sympathetic,  and  we  felt  that  we  might 
have  been  talking  to  a  colleague.  The  country,  the  natives 
and  native  administration  as  well  as  Anglo-German  polities, 
were  freely  dealt  with.  He  showed  the  same  broad-minded 
and  intelligent  grasp  of  international  as  of  local  questions 
which  charmed  and  impressed  us,  and  made  one  feel  that 
with  men  of  his  type  in  the  service  the  conduct  of  affairs  in 
German  East  Africa  is  in  capable  hands.  We  had  already 
had  an  opportunity  of  seeing  his  methods  of  handling 
the  natives,  with  whose  own  language  as  well  as  the  official 
Ki-Swahili  he  was  well  acquainted.  He  showed  a  wide 
knowledge  of  as  well  as  sympathy  with  the  many  interest- 
ing tribes  of  the  country  ;  he  had  spent  eight  and  a  half 
years  in  German  East  Africa  ;  the  last  four  in  Tabora  itself, 
and  he  expressed  himself  as  quite  content  to  end  his  days 
there.  In  contrast  to  the  concern  expressed  in  other  quarters 
at  our  choice  of  route,  he  keenly  appreciated  the  spirit  of 


A  FINE  OLD  Arab  carved  dookwav  at  Tabora  (in  an  Arab  house). 


TABORA  65 

our  journey  and  said,  on  learning  of  our  detour  to  the 
Rukwa  valley,  "  of  course,  knowing  the  natives,  you  find  it 
much  more  interesting  travelling  along  the  less  beaten 
tracks  and  as  far  as  possible  away  from  the  btirra  burra." 

More  striking,  perhaps,  than  our  agreement  on  the 
majority  of  subjects  on  which  we  touched  was  a  peculiar 
difference  of  opinion  apparently  common  to  all  the  officials 
on  the  question  of  the  completion  of  the  railway  from  the 
coast  to  Lake  Tanganyika  and  its  effect  on  existing  trans- 
port routes  and  transport  receipts.  We  had  already  had 
ample  evidence  that  large  quantities  of  the  goods  imported 
into  German  East  Africa  and  the  Belgian  Congo  from 
Europe  were  being  carried  by  the  Uganda  Railway  and 
its  steamers  to  Mwanza  and  thence  distributed  by  native 
porterage.  Even  before  reaching  Tabora  we  had  met 
numbers  of  carriers  whose  loads  bore  the  Kilindini  Port 
(Mombasa)  marks,  and  the  French  Fathers  at  Tabora  had 
informed  us  that  this  was  the  route  by  which  the  mission- 
aries and  traders  on  both  shores  of  Lake  Tanganyika  and 
the  Western  Districts  generally  of  German  territory,*  almost 
without  exception  imported  their  goods.  Mr.  Don,  too, 
who  had  cycled  through  the  country  at  about  the  same 
time  of  year,  had  told  us  that  between  Tabora  and  Mwanza 
he  had  met  about  1000  loads  on  each  of  the  three  days 
which  he  occupied  on  this  section.  We  were  aware  that 
the  German  Government,  for  reasons  of  its  own,  invariably 
imported  by  Dar-es-Salam,  even  though  this  meant  using 
a  route  which,  in  the  infancy  of  the  railway,  was  more 
dilatory  and  expensive,  and  that  all  officials,  except  those 
of  the  Victoria  Nyanza  districts,  were  forbidden  to  enter  or 
leave  the  country  by  the  British  route.  It  was,  however, 
a  little  astonishing  to  be  assured  that  we  were  actually 
quite  mistaken  in  supposing  that  there  was,  or  ever  had 
been,  any  considerable  tendency  among  the  importers  of 
German  East  Africa,  except  those  on  the  shores  of  the 
Victoria  Nyanza,  to  make  use  of  the  Mombasa  and  Port 
Florence  system.  It  seemed  to  us  a  curious  instance  of  a 
desire  to  minimise  by  sheer  denial  an  unpalatable  fact. 

^  Viz.  Ruanda,  Urundi,  Ujiji,  Tabora,  Bukoba,  Mwanza. 


66      THROUGH  THE  HEART  OF  AFRICA 


Surely  this  was  the  logic  that  inspired  in  the  ostrich 
the  belief  that,  if  his  face  were  covered,  his  pursuers  could 
not  see  him.  We  had  not  long  to  wait  for  still  further 
evidence  of  the  fallacy  of  the  German  official  contention. 
Between  Tabora  and  Mwanza,  travelling  on  but  one  of 
three  possible  routes,  we  met  a  constantly  increasing 
stream  of  natives  with  loads  for  the  interior  whose  marks 
plainly  betrayed  their  port  of  entry,  and  in  the  course  of 
ten  days  must  have  seen  not  less  than  5000  such  loads, 
and  finally  we  learnt  on  the  s.s.  Sibyl  that,  besides  the 
cargo  carried  by  the  Arab  dhows,  the  Uganda  Railway 
boats  were  discharging  on  an  average  250  tons  per  month 
at  Mwanza.  Mwanza  itself  can  scarcely  absorb  more 
than  a  third  of  this,  if  as  much  ;  but  reckoning  its  con- 
sumption at  that  rate,  we  are  left  with  a  total  of  80,000 
carriers'  loads  per  annum  for  Tabora  and  beyond,  dis- 
charged by  the  steamers  at  Mwanza.  The  dhow-borne 
cargo  is  by  no  means  inconsiderable,  including  as  it  does 
not  only  bulky  goods  of  small  value,  but  all  the  paraffin 
imported  by  this  route — the  steamboats  refusing  to  carry 
it — of  which  we  met  some  hundreds  of  cases  going  south. 

Whether  the  loss  of  the  greater  part  of  this  freight 
will  affect  to  a  serious  degree  the  receipts  of  the  Uganda 
Railway  with  its  already  considerable  and  rapidly  in- 
creasing local  traffic  in  goods  to  and  from  British  East 
Africa  and  Uganda,  we  were  hardly  in  a  position  to  judge, 
but  that  it  will  have  some  effect  seems  as  obvious  as  the 
German  attitude  is  perplexing.  Another  more  natural 
but  less  innocuous  mistake  seems  to  be  being  made  by 
those  who  are  anticipating  that  the  arrival  at  Tabora  of 
the  railway  from  Dar-es-Salam  will  mark  the  beginning 
of  a  big  local  boom. 

That  there  will  be  the  temporary  increase  of  business 
inseparable  from  the  presence  of  railway  construction 
works,  there  can  be  no  question,  but  before  a  belief  in  its 
permanent  future  can  be  justified,  an  examination  of  the 
basis  of  its  present  degree  of  prosperity  is  advisable. 

There  are  three  principal  stores  which  keep  a  varied 
stock  of  European  goods,  but  by  far  the  greater  portion 


TABORA  67 

of  the  trade  is  in  the  hands  of  Indian  traders,  and  consists 
in  the  sale  to  natives  of  cloth  and  cheap  goods,  and 
therefore  depends  not  only  upon  the  wage-earning  capa- 
city of  the  native  population,  but  on  the  point  at  which 
this  population  receives  its  wages.  At  the  present  time 
besides  the  Government  employes  (native  troops,  &c.), 
whose  monthly  wage-bill  amounts  to  some  ;^400  or  ^500, 
the  wage-earning  class  consists  almost  entirely  of  the  crowds 
of  carriers  who  are  paid  off  after  bringing  loads  from 
Mwanza  and  the  coast.  Now  it  is  sufficiently  obvious 
that  on  the  completion  of  the  line  to  Tabora  this  carrier 
work  will,  except  to  a  limited  extent  for  distribution  to 
outgoing  parts,  practically  cease  to  exist.  Once  the 
railway  construction  has  passed  there  will  be  a  large  local 
population  in  search  of  employment.  Employment  will 
not  be  lacking,  but  it  will  be  on  the  farms  and  plantations 
nearer  the  coast,  where  the  workers  will  not  only  be  paid 
their  wages,  but  will  probably  also  have  plenty  of  oppor- 
tunity of  spending  what  they  earn  at  the  stores  that  will 
be  erected  or  now  exist  in  that  neighbourhood.  Thus 
not  only  will  the  railway  take  the  place  of  the  native 
carriers'  transport,  but  the  quantity  of  the  actual  goods  to 
be  carried  will  ipso  facto  considerably  diminish. 

There  will  be,  in  fact,  a  redistribution  of  labour,  in 
which  Tabora  seems  likely  to  suffer  the  most.  In  the 
days  of  Arab  predominance  Tabora  was  the  main  depot 
between  the  lakes  and  interior  on  the  one  side  and  the 
coast  on  the  other,  and  up  to  the  present  it  has  more  or 
less  maintained  this  position  under  German  rule.  Once 
deprived,  as  it  will  be  by  the  railway,  of  its  importance  as 
a  transport  centre,  it  is  difficult  to  see  on  what  will  rest 
the  prosperity  of  a  large  town  in  a  practically  non-pro- 
ductive stretch  of  country  in  the  heart  of  tropical  Africa. 

It  can  boast  of  nothing  in  its  immediate  neighbour- 
hood but  its  herds  of  cattle,  and  they  are  within  a  very 
few  miles  of  tsetse-fly  belts  on  every  side. 

The  farmers  and  settlers  will  scarcely  be  tempted  to 
invest  their  capital  in  a  bleak,  waterless  and,  except  for 
one  strip,  timberless  country  with  a  rather  poor  soil  and 


68      THROUGH  THE   HEART  OF  AFRICA 


obviously  risky  if  otherwise  suitable  for  the  raising  of 
cattle. 

On  the  other  hand,  there  is  a  faint  possibility  of 
Tabora  taking  the  place  of  Dar-es-Salam  as  the  adminis- 
trative capital  of  the  territory.  If  this  should  occur,  there 
is  of  course  no  doubt  that  the  town  will  enter  upon  an 
era  of  prosperity  which,  if  not  prodigious,  will  at  any  rate 
be  stable.  There  are  at  present  some  200  officials  of  all 
grades  at  Dar-es-Salam,  and  as  probably  not  more  than  a 
third  would  be  needed  at  the  port,  the  transfer  of  the  seat 
of  Government  would  mean  the  accession  of  a  considerable 
population  to  the  town.  Failing  this,  it  looks  very  much 
as  if,  with  the  advance  of  civilisation  and  the  iron  road, 
the  penultimate  chapter  in  the  history  of  this  old  Arab 
metropolis  is  being  written. 

The  requisite  number  of  carriers  had  been  made  up 
without  any  difficulty,  and  at  two  o'clock  on  the  13th  Sep- 
tember, after  bidding  our  hosts  farewell,  we  continued  our 
journey  north.  Our  personal  staff  from  Rhodesia  was 
still  with  us,  with  the  exception  of  one,  who  was  returned 
to  his  home  from  Tabora,  travelling  as  far  as  Bismarck- 
burg  with  the  carriers  whom  we  had  engaged  from  there. 


VI 


TABORA  TO  MWANZA 

Encounter  with  party  of  missionaries — Curious  rock  formation  at  Ngaya 
— Notes  on  the  Wanyamwezi — Game  on  Mbala  Plain — Soap  and 
oil  factory  at  Salabwe — Scenery  on  Mwanza  Gulf — Carriers  on  road 
— Arrival  at  Mwanza. 

It  is  always  difficult  to  make  an  early  and  punctual 
start  after  a  stay  at  a  civilised  centre,  and  taking  the  west 
of  the  three  routes  to  Mwanza  along  which  the  telegraph 
line  runs,  and  which  we  had  chosen,  partly  as  offering  the 
best  opportunities  of  sport,  we  made  a  short  trek  of 
miles. 

The  country  that  we  were  now  going  through  was 
barer  than  ever.  The  grass  that  bordered  our  track  for 
the  first  4  miles  was  thin  and  close-cropped  by  cattle  ; 
trees,  except  in  small  isolated  groups,  were  conspicuous  by 
their  absence.  The  grass  presently  gave  way  to  native 
gardens  on  both  sides,  and  at  the  place  where  we  camped 
the  road  itself  was  the  only  possible  place  on  which  to 
pitch  our  tents  ;  dry  sorghum  stalks  were  the  only  available 
fuel,  and  with  the  added  discomfort  of  a  small  hurricane, 
which  kept  us  on  the  qui  vive  most  of  the  night,  and  all  but 
swept  our  tents  from  their  bearings,  it  was  small  wonder 
that  the  morning  found  us  but  poorly  refreshed  and  dis- 
inclined to  get  up  till  a  little  after  half-past  six.  Our 
usual  practice  during  this  section  was  to  rise  at  about 
4.30  A.M.  and,  breakfasting  at  once,  to  send  most  of  our 
carriers  ahead,  and  get  off  about  an  hour  later.  Except 
during  the  three  or  four  days  following  the  full  moon,  an 
earlier  start  was  hardly  practicable  ;  nor  indeed  did  we  find 
it  necessary,  for  though  we  averaged  more  than  20  miles 
a  day  between  Tabora  and  Mwanza,  we  never  failed  to 

reach  camp  before  the  noonday  heat.      By  a  simple 

69 


70      THROUGH  THE   HEART  OF  AFRICA 


method  of  sharing  our  remaining  machine  we  were  both 
able,  if  necessary,  to  do  half  of  each  day's  journey  on  foot 
and  half  on  bicycle,  e.g.  if  the  journey  were  one  of  20 
miles,  the  first  of  us  could  take  the  machine,  ride  10,  and 
leave  it  on  the  path  for  the  other.  As  a  matter  of  fact, 
we  always  began  the  day  by  both  walking  an  hour  or  so, 
and  rode  and  walked  roughly  half  and  half  of  the  rest 
of  the  way.  A  native,  picked  for  the  purpose,  always 
accompanied  the  bicycle  while  it  was  being  ridden, 
wheeled  or  carried  it  where  it  was  not  in  use,  and  was 
generally,  though  not  always,  in  charge  of  it  when  it  was 
left  by  the  roadside. 

At  about  8.30  A.M.  on  our  second  day  we  met  a 
party  of  three  French  missionaries  on  their  way  from 
Mwanza.  All  were  on  bicycles,  and  were  taking  advan- 
tage of  a  smooth  stretch  of  path  to  do  a  double  days' 
journey  into  Tabora,  which  they  hoped  to  reach  about 
noon,  having  camped  some  seven  hours  back. 

These  were  the  advance-guard  of  a  party  of  thirteen, 
consisting  of  eleven  Fathers  and  Brothers  and  two  Sisters, 
of  whom  we  had  heard  from  Pere  Schmitt,  and  the 
balance  of  which  we  found  an  hovir  later  at  a  wayside 
camp.  All  except  the  Father  in  charge  were  newcomers 
to  Africa,  and  all  were  bound  for  various  posts  on  the 
Belgian  as  well  as  on  the  German  side  of  Lake  Tangan- 
yika. As  they  reported  that  there  was  no  water  within 
another  six  hours,  we  decided  to  go  no  farther,  and 
bivouacked  under  the  lea  of  a  hill  a  few  hundred  yards 
from  their  camp.  Later  the  Pere  Superieur  paid  us  a 
visit,  and  after  a  cup  of  tea  took  us  back  with  him  to 
return  the  call,  which  was  celebrated  with  a  bottle  of  wine. 

Shortly  after  dark  our  carriers  amused  and  surprised 
us  by  getting  up  a  party  to  go  out  and  kill  birds.  Armed 
with  sticks  and  knob-kerries  and  torches  of  burning  grass 
they  sallied  forth  quite  confident  of  returning  in  an  hour 
or  so  with  a  few  guinea-fowl  or  partridges,  which  they  said 
they  would  find  on  the  roost.  We  promised  to  put  six- 
pence on  every  bird  they  killed,  but  we  were  not  called 
upon  to  pay. 


TABORA  TO  MWANZA 


71 


Two  hours  through  timbered  but  stony  hills  brought 
us  to  flat,  thinly-wooded  and  scrub-clothed  country  with 
no  water  for  16J  miles.  About  the  middle  of  it  v/e 
came  across  an  interesting  example  of  the  commer- 
cial spirit  of  the  German  East  African  natives  in  the 
shape  of  a  wayside  stall  at  which  half  a  dozen  of  the 
inhabitants  of  the  nearest  villages  were  sitting,  with  pots 
of  beer  for  sale  to  passing  caravans.  There  was  a 
quantity  of  spoor  on  the  way.  Giraffe,  eland,  harte- 
beeste  and  topi,  all  but  the  first  being  fresh,  but  no  game, 
barring  a  single  duiker,  was  seen.  The  next  three  days 
were  dull  treks  of  20,  24I,  and  19 J  miles,  the  last  of 
which  brought  us  to  the  French  Fathers'  mission  at 
Ngaya.  At  the  end  of  the  first  our  carriers  came  in  a 
deputation  to  protest  against  the  rate  at  which  we  were 
travelling.  They  were  completely  exhausted,  they  said, 
they  had  had  no  time  to  buy  food  on  the  way,  and  they 
must  have  a  rest  the  next  day.  As  the  majority  of  them 
were  Wanyamwezi,  who  enjoy  the  reputation  of  being 
about  the  best  carriers  in  Africa,  this  tickled  us  not  a 
little.  We  were  sorry,  we  told  them,  that  they  were 
tmable  to  live  up  to  their  reputation,  but  they  must  stick 
to  it,  for  the  morrow's  trek  was  going  to  be  longer  still 
— 24I  miles.  This  much  alarmed  them,  and  they  de- 
clared there  was  no  sokoni  (market  or  stall  at  which  to 
buy  food),  no  game,  and  little  or  no  water  on  the 
way.  However,  with  a  little  threatening,  to  the  effect 
that  if  we  loitered  we  should  miss  the  steamer  at  Mwanza, 
and  that  if  we  missed  it  there  would  be  nothing  for  it  but 
to  spend  another  fortnight  in  the  bush  before  they  got 
paid  off ;  with  a  little  chaff,  and  a  promise  that  we  would 
make  an  early  start  and  that  they  should  buy  food  on  the 
way,  we  got  round  them,  and  did  our  24I  miles — to  find 
a  sokoni,  a  small  Indian  store,  and  plenty  of  game,  all  quite 
close  to  our  camp. 

Our  boys  from  Rhodesia  had  naturally  had  a  little 
difficulty  in  adapting  themselves  to  the  local  coinage 
of  the  heller  and  the  one-and-fourpenny  rupee.  Even 
when  they  knew  that  100  heller  went  to  the  rupee,  which 


72      THROUGH  THE   HEART  OF  AFRICA 


took  them  some  time,  as  they  never  troubled  to  count,  they 
seemed  unable  to  dissociate  the  heller  from  the  penny. 

For  instance,  when  one  of  them  bought  a  small 
handful  of  ground  nuts  for  3  heller,  he  firmly  believed 
he  had  been  swindled,  and  it  was  in  vain  that  we  demon- 
strated to  him  that,  taking  the  local  price  of  a  yard  of 
calico  (calico  and  beads  forming  the  small  coinage  of  his 
country)  at  25  heller,  the  ground  nuts  he  had  bought 
(being,  as  he  admitted,  about  one  quarter  of  a  yard's 
worth  in  his  country)  had  really  cost  him  but  half  as 
much  as  they  did  in  Rhodesia.  Similarly  it  was  almost 
equally  vain  to  attempt  to  convince  them  that  the  meal 
they  were  buying  was,  comparatively,  as  cheap,  and  that 
anyway,  they  could  buy  as  much  as  they  could  possibly 
eat  with  their  allowance  of  10  heller  per  day.  They 
understood  the  calculation  in  the  end,  but  whether  they 
believed  our  statements  is  another  matter.  Moreover,  the 
last  argument  never  is  convincing  to  a  native  ;  he  is  quite 
incapable  of  realising  that  he  can  only  eat  something  less 
than  2  lbs.  of  meal  a  day  (which  has  been  proved  by 
experiment),  and  thinks  that  under  some  circumstances 
there  is  no  limit  at  all. 

The  third  day  to  Ngaya,  first  over  a  huge  bare  undu- 
lating plain,  dotted  here  and  there  with  villages  and  herds 
of  cattle  though  humming  with  tsetse  fly,  then  through  a 
patch  of  thirsty  bush  consisting  entirely  of  straight  long- 
thorned  saplings,  and  then  out  again  into  the  open,  was 
not  remarkable  except  for  the  big  village  of  Kahama  in 
the  first  plain  and  the  curious  rocky  ridge  formation  of 
the  second. 

At  Kahama's  was  the  highest  developed  native  market 
that  we  had  seen  ;  with  its  "  pitches  "  for  the  sellers  of 
native  produce,  two  or  three  Indian  shops  and  a  butchery, 
it  almost  amounted  to  a  bazaar.  We  bought  some  ex- 
cellent lentils  here  at  a  heller  a  handful,  which  formed  a 
useful  basis  for  the  next  two  days'  potage.  The  house  of 
the  village  chief  was  quite  a  notable  one.  Not  so  large 
as  either  Kalula's  or  Tetemia's,  it  showed,  with  its  high- 
pitched  roof  with  pavilion  ends  and  creditable  attempt 


Natives  threshing  Kaffir  corn. 


TABORA  TO  MWANZA 


73 


at  gable  windows,  a  higher  standard  of  architecture  than 
either. 

It  was  towards  Ngaya  that  the  peculiar  granite 
boulders  were  first  seen — the  plains  here  are  broken  up 
by  low  ridges  running  roughly  north  and  south,  their 
long  summits  strewn  and  embattled  by  curiously  regular 
rows  of  granite  masses — while  here  and  there  are  huge 
outcrops  rising  clear  and  solitary  out  of  the  flat  surface 
of  the  plain  itself. 

These  latter,  split  horizontally  by  the  same  weathering 
that  has  given  the  hill  ridges  the  look  of  hewn  blocks,  form 
sometimes  a  series  of  pillars,  arches  and  colonnades  that 
by  their  huge  bulk  and  grotesque  arranc;ement  suggest  the 
handiwork  of  some  ambitious  architect  of  the  gigantic  age. 

The  village  of  Ngaya,  from  which  the  camp  derives 
its  name,  consists  of  some  dozen  huts  nestling,  like  many 
of  its  fellows,  at  the  foot  of  a  group  of  these  mighty 
monoliths,  from  under  which  bubbles  a  little  stream  of 
cool  clear  water  spreading  out  and  down  to  irrigate  the 
pasturage  and  gardens  of  millet  and  sugar-cane  on  the 
lower  slopes  of  the  plain.  We  found  the  villages  almost 
solely  occupied  by  women  folk,  the  men  apparently  being 
employed  on  transport  or  railway  construction  work 
away  from  their  homes.  Those  whom  we  saw  struck  us 
as  being  of  a  good  type,  with  bright,  intelligent  faces, 
and  we  were  particularly  struck  by  the  action  of  one 
young  girl  who,  noticing  one  of  our  dogs  as  he  lay  pant- 
ing with  the  heat  when  we  were  making  a  short  halt  in 
her  village,  spontaneously  fetched  him  a  bowl  of  water 
to  quench  his  thirst — an  act  of  kindness  rare  enough  in 
any  native  :  here  prompted  perhaps  by  a  fellow  feeling, 
for  the  Wanyamwezi  look  on  their  women  folk  as  an 
animal  so  much  lower  in  the  scale  of  creation  than  man 
that  they  habitually  refer  to  them  as  "  cows  that  cannot 
be  milked."  ^    Here  for  the  first  time  during  the  journey 

^  Cf.  The  East  African  Protectorate,  by  Sir  Charles  Eliot,  p.  125  :  "  Wives 
are  the  recognised  sign  of  wealth,  and  girls  are  regarded  simply  as  calves  which 
can  be  sold  for  a  price.  .  .  .  The  Wakamba  have  no  respect  for  maidens,  and  re- 
gard a  pregnant  girl  as  the  most  eligible  spouse,  exactly  as  if  she  were  a  cow  in 
calf." 


74      THROUGH  THE   HEART  OF  AFRICA 


we  saw  women  wearing  the  small  bead  apron  which  is 
common  in  parts  of  South  Africa,  though  here  apparently 
it  is  only  worn  by  unmarried  girls. 

Just  round  the  corner  of  another  ridge  we  came  upon 
another  village  and  a  small  native  market,  and  saw  the 
Mission  Church  about  ij  mile  away  amongst  more  boul- 
ders to  the  west.  We  reached  it  at  a  little  after  eleven 
o'clock,  and  were  welcomed  by  the  Pere  Superieur  and 
a  colleague,  whom  we  had  advised  of  our  intended  visit 
by  a  runner  in  advance.  After  a  cup  of  tea  and  an  invita- 
tion to  supper,  we  retired  to  find  a  place  to  pitch  our  tents 
and  to  get  some  lunch.  But  it  is  a  dangerous  thing  to 
leave  anything  to  chance  with  natives,  or  not  to  provide 
for  all  likely  emergencies,  and  we  found  that,  for  once, 
lunch  was  not  such  a  simple  matter  as  it  seemed.  Our 
boys,  opining  that  we  should  lunch  at  the  Mission,  had 
not  only  got  nothing  ready  for  us,  but  had,  with  really 
extraordinary  ingenuity,  absolutely  surpassed  all  records 
in  the  completeness  with  which  they  had  provided  for 
our  discomfort.  The  two  lunch-baskets,  which  had  kept 
up  with  us  with  the  most  exceptional  and  praiseworthy 
pertinacity  for  nearly  20  miles,  were  found  to  be  empty 
of  everything  except  a  couple  of  lumps  of  rancid  beef — 
no  bread,  biscuits,  butter,  tea,  kettle,  cheese,  clean  plates 
or  anything.  Even  their  legitimate  contents  had  nearly 
all  been  carefully  transferred  to  and  packed  away  in 
other  loads,  which,  of  course,  were  miles  behind.  One 
of  the  boys'  explanation  of  this  eccentric  appreciation 
of  the  uses  of  a  lunch-basket  is  worthy  of  a  special  place 
in  the  annals  of  native  logic.  "Their  fittings  had  been 
left  out  because  there  were  two  of  them  ! "  The  cook 
and  another  boy  were  despatched  to  find  some  loads 
containing  food,  and  we  eventually  stayed  the  pangs  of 
hunger  with  a  cold  collation  of  potted  sausages  and  oaten 
biscuits  about  2  P.M. — nine  hours  after  a  scanty  breakfast. 
After  pitching  our  tents  in  a  sheltered  valley  amongst  the 
boulders,  we  paid  another  visit  to  the  Mission,  and,  escorted 
by  the  Pere  Superieur,  went  over  the  church  and  buildings 
— the  latter  are  constructed  in  the  Arab  (ieinbo)  archi- 


TABORA  TO  MWANZA 


75 


tectural  style  with  flat  mudded  roofs,  and  the  whole  is 
enclosed  in  a  spacious  quadrangle  of  outbuildings,  similarly 
roofed,  the  outer  wall  of  which,  unpierced  by  any  openings 
except  the  entrance  door,  forms  a  screen  between  the  settle- 
ment and  the  native  village  without.  The  wall  is  some 
9  or  10  feet  in  height  and  hides  everything  but  the 
gabled  roof  and  tower  of  the  church  from  all  points 
except  the  higher  ground  to  the  north. 

The  church  was  the  finest  piece  of  sun-dried  brick 
architecture  that  we  had  seen.  Gracefully  designed  and 
admirably  constructed,  the  high-pitched  roof  of  heavy 
thatch  was  supported  by  timber  couples  resting  upon  the 
outer  walls  and  the  round  pillars  of  the  nave.  The  pillars 
were  connected  by  stout  lintels  of  timber  in  place  of  the 
usual  arches,  which  are  practically  impossible  of  construc- 
tion in  sun-dried  brick. 

As  striking  as  the  building  itself  were  the  beautifully 
wrought  and  polished  pieces  of  furniture  and  woodwork 
which  it  contained,  and  which  comprised  an  altar,  a  half- 
life-sized  crucifix,  sedilia,  and  a  set  of  picture-frames  whose 
simple  beauty  contrasted  painfully  with  the  crude  and 
gaudy  lithographs  that  they  held.  All  were  of  the  same 
local  timber,  called  mukula,  that  we  had  seen  being  sawn 
at  the  saw-pits  near  Tabora,  and  were  the  handiwork  of 
one  of  the  Fathers.  Later  in  the  afternoon,  when  taking 
photographs  round  our  camp,  we  found  the  rocks  swarming 
with  rock  conies  squatting  and  basking  in  the  sun.  We 
were  anxious  to  get  one  or  two  specimens  for  our  natural 
history  collection,  and  so  sent  for  a  rook  rifle,  but,  owing 
to  the  inaccessibility  of  the  rocks  and  crannies  into  which 
most  of  our  victims  rolled,  we  had  to  shoot  five  or  six 
before  we  succeeded  in  securing  a  couple.  At  seven 
o'clock  we  went  down  again  to  the  Mission  and  supped 
with  the  three  Fathers  of  whom  the  staff  consists.  The 
meal  was  their  usual  kind  of  simple  but  well-cooked 
repast — soup,  stewed  duck,  with  boiled  rice  and  tomatoes, 
potatoes  and  salad  ;  the  vegetables,  according  to  their 
custom,  being  eaten  after  instead  of  with  the  meat  or 
game,  and  some  very  palatable  wafer-like  biscuits  made  of 


76      THROUGH  THE   HEART  OF  AFRICA 


the  local  sorghum  flour.  The  water-supply  was  not  much 
better  than  we  had  been  finding  it  along  the  road.  Our 
hosts  held  up  a  glass  of  water  that  looked  as  if  it  was 
diluted  with  lo  per  cent  of  milk  and  told  us  it  was  excep- 
tionally good  for  that  part  of  the  country.  They  also  told 
us  that  the  neighbourhood  was  poor  for  the  raising  of 
vegetables,  and  that  though  it  carried  large  herds  of  cattle, 
of  which  they  themselves  owned  a  good  herd,  they  ob- 
tained but  a  poor  supply  of  milk  and  little  or  no  butter. 
The  Wanyamwezi,  of  whom  there  are  some  3000  within 
a  radius  of  3I  miles,  never  kill  their  cattle,  though  they 
sell  for  slaughter,  keeping  them  mainly  for  the  sake  of  the 
butter,  of  which  they  make  a  fair  quantity,  but  only  for 
anointing  themselves  or  for  the  manufacture  of  soap,  and 
not  for  food.  A  rupee's  worth  that,  anticipating  an  un- 
usual treat,  we  had  bought  a  few  days  earlier  at  a  wayside 
market  was  sufficiently  convincing  of  the  truth  of  this. 

The  name  Wanyamwezi  was  that  given  to  the  tribes  of 
this  locality  by  the  people  of  the  coast,  which  they  are 
constantly  visiting,  and  which  they  maintain  that  every 
male  must  visit  at  least  once  before  he  can  call  himself  a 
man.  Its  meaning  is  "the  people  of  the  moon,"  and  is 
applied  to  the  tribes  of  the  west  as  being  the  quarter  in 
which  the  new  moon  is  first  seen. 

Whether  they  maintain  any  further  connection  with 
the  moon  than  this  we  did  not  hear,  but  the  very  next  day 
we  had  proof  of  their  curious  predilection  for  travelling  by 
moonlight. 

On  arriving  at  our  camping  ground  a  little  before  ten 
o'clock  (having  for  various  reasons  made  a  late  start  and 
a  short  trek)  we  found  it  already  occupied  by  some  40 
to  50  carriers  from  Mwanza,  resting  with  their  loads  at 
their  side.  On  asking  whether  they  were  not  going  on, 
we  received  the  reply  that  they  had  finished  their  day's 
journey.  Till  about  three  o'clock  their  numbers  went 
on  increasing,  and  finally  we  had  to  share  the  camp  with 
about  200  of  them.  Up  to  midnight  they  had  not 
caused  us  the  slightest  inconvenience,  but  then,  the  waning 
moon  having  had  time  to  get  well  above  the  horizon,  they 


TABORA  TO  MWANZA 


77 


proceeded  to  "  get  busy."  It  took  them  about  an  hour  to 
get  really  off,  and  the  last  ten  minutes,  as  the  main  body 
of  them  pulled  out  blowing  cow-horn  bugles  and  beating 
a  devil's  tattoo  on  their  boxes  with  knob-kerries  and  sticks, 
it  was  simply  pandemonium  let  loose.  Curses  were  not 
of  the  slightest  effect,  and  though  we  thought  seriously  of 
coming  out  and  firing  a  few  shots  into  the  air  by  way 
of  intimidation,  we  were  much  too  sleepy  to  do  it,  and  lay 
tight  until  the  din  should  die  away  and  let  us  slumber 
again.  Hardly  had  we  turned  over  when  a  fresh  develop- 
ment interrupted  the  night's  rest.  Our  boys,  deceived  by 
the  obtrusive  energy  of  the  Wanyamwezi  and  quite  ignor- 
ing the  fact  that  the  moon  showed  it  to  be  only  about 
one  o'clock,  brought  us  our  early  tea  !  Resisting  with 
difficulty  the  temptation  to  throw  it  in  their  faces,  we 
warned  them  not  to  come  near  us  again  till  dawn,  and 
once  more  turned  our  faces  to  the  wall,  heartily  blessing 
those  "children  of  the  moon." 

The  Mbala  plain,  of  which  we  had  heard  both  at 
Tabora  and  Ngaya  as  being  an  exceptionally  good  shoot- 
ing ground,  we  reached  after  about  an  hour's  travelling 
the  following  day.  In  the  morning  haze  its  breadth  from 
east  to  west  looked  in  places  anything  between  5  and 
8  miles.  Its  length  was  about  10.  Covered  with  un- 
burnt  grass  up  to  3^  feet  high  and  with  no  cover  of 
any  sort  except  stumpy  ant-hills  only  occasionally  tall 
enough  to  show  over  the  top,  it  did  not  look  promis- 
ing, and  was  very  rough  going.  Our  path  fortunately 
did  not  lead  through  the  whole  of  it,  but,  after  traversing 
a  corner  for  a  mile  or  two,  turned  off  into  the  thick  bush, 
and,  after  5  or  6  miles  more  emerged  again  into  the 
northern  end.  On  the  first  section  we  saw  no  life  except 
a  few  ostriches  at  about  600  yards.  In  the  second 
we  found — and  missed — a  roan,  and  ten  minutes  later 
spied  what  we  thought  were  vultures  circling  over  a  spot 
some  500  yards  away  to  our  right.  In  the  hope  of 
a  possible  lion  over  a  kill — a  hope  which  was  encour- 
aged by  Chumamaboko — we  bore  down  upon  it  armed  to 
the  teeth  ;  but  on  getting  closer  found  that  the  vultures 


78      THROUGH   THE   HEART  OF  AFRICA 


were  marabout,  and  there  was  neither  game  nor  lion  any- 
where. An  excited  follower  tried  to  convince  us  that  a 
herd  of  cattle  that  was  grazing  a  quarter  of  a  mile  away 
was  one  of  the  things  we  were  looking  for,  but  we  dis- 
agreed with  him. 

It  was  on  the  following  day  that  we  came  on  the 
only  settlers  on  our  route  through  German  East  Africa, 
a  Hanoverian  and  a  Bavarian,  who,  we  had  already  heard 
at  Ngaya,  were  establishing  a  ground-nut  oil  factory  at 
Salabwe,  on  the  Tabora-Mwanza  road.  As  their  settle- 
ment was  at  a  convenient  halting-place,  we  were  pre- 
paring to  find  a  spot  to  camp  in  the  neighbourhood  of 
the  only  stream,  but  as  soon  as  our  arrival  was  noticed 
we  were  cordially  welcomed,  and  persuaded  to  camp  in 
their  compound.  After  seeing  to  the  pitching  of  our 
tents,  we  repaired  to  the  house,  a  small  three-roomed 
building  of  mud  with  an  iron  roof,  where  our  host,  who 
knew  a  fair  amount  of  English,  assisted  by  his  partner 
in  such  perfect  silence  that  for  some  three  hours  we 
blandly  believed  him  to  be  totally  ignorant  of  the  English 
language,  proceeded  to  dispense  his  hospitality.  It  con- 
sisted briefly  of  a  couple  of  liqueur  glasses  of  whisky 
followed  by  a  gallon  and  a  half  of  "  Gold  Bock  "  lager 
beer  each,  which  seemed  to  do  us  about  as  much  harm 
as  an  equal  quantity  of  water. 

There  was  a  pause  in  our  potations  a  little  before 
sundown,  and  we  went  round  and  looked  at  his 
machinery.  It  was  not  yet  complete,  but  what  had 
already  arrived  had,  he  told  us,  cost  him  over  £ioo  in 
transport,  and  when  set  up  it  was  apparently  going  to  be 
quite  an  up-to-date  and  effective  plant  consisting  of  a 
hydraulic  press,  shelling  and  cleaning  machines,  &c., 
equal  to  the  whole  process  of  extracting  ground-nut  oil. 
He  declared  himself  certain  of  making  a  big  success  of 
it,  and  showed  us  some  samples,  which  he  maintained 
were  really  superior  to  olive  oil.  We  had  already  learnt 
that  the  oil  is  sold  as  ground-nut  oil  in  Germany,  where 
their  Colonies  still  have  the  fascination  of  a  new  toy,  and 
commands  a  ready  sale  ;  while  in  Great  Britain,  where 


TABORA  TO  MWANZA 


79 


colonial  produce  is  still  regarded  with  some  suspicion,  it 
has  to  be  labelled  "Olive  Oil"  or  used  in  the  adultera- 
tion of  it  to  find  a  market.  The  area  of  his  land  grant 
seemed  to  be  limited  solely  by  his  requirements,  and  he 
also  told  me  that  he  was  obtaining  a  concession  over  a 
valuable  natural  salt  deposit  that  was  brought  down  by 
the  rains  from  som.e  hills  to  the  east.  He  showed  us 
two  lumps  of  what  seemed  to  be  simply  pure  white 
salt — picked  up,  he  said,  haphazard  by  the  natives.  If 
it  was  true,  as  he  said,  that  a  load  which  cost  him  4 
rupees,  including  transport,  fetched  10  rupees  in  Tabora, 
and  that  he  could  sell  as  much  as  200  loads  in  a  day, 
it  was  a  profitable  proposition.  In  the  matter  of  a 
handful  of  mineral  specimens,  including  amethyst,  garnet, 
copper  and  gold,  which  had  come  from  the  hills  to  the 
west,  although  this  locality  is  officially  marked  in  the  maps 
as  highly  mineralised,  and  though  our  host  had  spent 
some  years  prospecting,  he  was  a  little  less  convincing. 
Dinner,  which  was  washed  down  with  German  champagne 
and  vanilla-flavoured  Buchanan  as  a  liqueur,  afforded  us  a 
most  entertaining  symposium.  Herr  Wattjen,  the  partner, 
proved  not  only  to  have  a  quite  useful  acquaintance  with 
the  English  language,  but  to  be  a  keen  and  intelligent 
student  of  British  and  German  political  problems.  Our 
host's  most  notable  contribution  was  a  statement  that 
the  Duke  of  Cumberland  had  given  up  his  claim  to  the 
English  throne  in  favour  of  Queen  Victoria,  preferring 
that  of  Hanover,  to  which  he  adhered  quite  as  obstinately 
as  to  another  to  the  effect  that  there  was  no  such  person 
as  Herr  Siegel,  Distrikts  Kommissar,  at  Tabora.  Both 
were  in  agreement  in  their  criticisms  of  the  new  civil 
administration  introduced  by  Herr  Dernburg,  which,  they 
said,  was  "  far  worser "  than  the  old  military  regime. 
Their  illustration  was  a  naive  disclosure  of  biassed  in- 
dividualism. Formerly,  they  said,  if  a  native  was  lacking 
in  what  any  kind  of  white  man  considered  the  proper 
respect  due  to  him,  the  white  man  had  but  to  report  it, 
and  the  offender  was  severely  punished.  Nowadays  the 
plaintiff  had  to  produce  evidence.    Comment  is  superfluous. 


8o      THROUGH  THE   HEART  OF  AFRICA 


We  bade  our  hosts  farewell  on  retiring  at  9.15,  and 
pulled  out  before  dawn,  not  a  little  impressed  by  the 
warm  and  genial  welcome  that  we  had  enjoyed  at 
Salabwe.  With  lager  beer  at  about  eighteenpence  a 
bottle  and  champagne  at  goodness  knows  what,  the  ex- 
tension of  this  unstinted  hospitality  to  two  Britishers 
travelling  through  German  territory  by  a  couple  of  settlers 
who  still  had  their  way  to  make  was  a  thing  to  remember. 

On  our  next  day's  stage  of  21  miles  along  a  trek  that 
was  chiefly  like  frozen  plough  and  quite  unrideable,  we 
saw  a  good  deal  of  game,  including  topi,  reedbuck,  and 
roan,  besides  a  troop  of  huge  baboons,  in  chasing  which 
the  dogs  nearly  succeeded  in  losing  themselves  in  the 
bush.  This  was  the  third  time  we  had  come  across  these 
beasts,  right  on  our  road,  since  leaving  Tabora.  We 
bagged  none,  but  saw  them  fairly  close,  and  noticed  that 
they  were  darker  in  colour  and  rather  shorter  in  the 
body,  though  no  shorter  in  the  leg,  than  those  of  North- 
Eastern  Rhodesia,  In  that  country  they  are  not  un- 
commonly mistaken  for  lions  at  a  first  glimpse  of  them 
stalking  through  thick  bush,  and  one  of  our  gun-bearers 
on  this  occasion  fell  into  the  same  error.  The  biggest  of 
them  stand  every  bit  as  high,  and  their  colour  is  often 
almost  identical.  They  showed  very  little  fear  of  the 
dogs,  and  once  routed  them  in  hasty  retreat  to  the  road 
by  merely  turning  back  to  have  a  closer  look  at  what 
was  chasing  them.  We  also  saw  some  wild  ostriches 
here,  and  after  careful  stalking  succeeded  in  getting  to 
within  70  yards  and  obtaining  some  good  photographs 
of  them. 

We  killed  a  couple  of  topi  for  the  sake  of  the  meat,  but 
the  carriers,  who  would  have  got  nearly  all  of  it,  were  suf- 
fering from  one  of  those  occasional  fits  of  "  previousness  " 
that  so  often  attack  the  African,  and  consequently  nearly 
all  of  them  had  to  do  without.  It  was  only  two  or  three 
miles  from  camp  that  the  game  had  been  shot,  so  those  of 
them  that  were  not  fetching  firewood  were  sent  back  to 
carry  in  the  meat.  On  their  return  we  found  to  our 
disgust  that  not  only  had  they  ignored  our  instructions  to 


TABORA   TO  MWANZA 


8i 


bring  in  one  of  the  heads  intact,  for  the  sake  of  the  head 
skin,  and  had  flayed  nearly  every  inch  of  both  of  them  to 
make  themselves  sandals,  but  had  also  taken  the  liberty  of 
helping  themselves  to  a  tasty  bit,  and  of  cooking  and 
eating  it  before  they  brought  the  meat  in.  Needless  to 
say,  the  tasty  bits  were  all  they  got.  Their  embryo 
sandals  were  cremated,  and  the  spare  meat  was  given  to 
the  Jumbe,  or  local  headman,  whose  courtesy  and  pains 
to  make  us  comfortable  in  a  spot  where  there  was  hardly 
enough  water  to  go  round,  and  firewood  was  only  visible 
on  the  horizon,  deserved  some  special  recognition. 

Twenty-eight  miles  short  of  Mwanza  in  the  great 
plains,  that  but  for  the  close-cropped  grass  and  patches  of 
cultivation  in  place  of  the  scrub  reminded  one  vividly  of 
the  Karoo,  we  encountered  some  entirely  novel  methods  of 
husbandry.  In  between  the  tiny  villages,  whose  euphorbia 
hedges  were  the  only  trees  in  sight,  the  smooth  level 
ground,  like  patches  of  English  common,  was  dotted  with 
groups  of  natives  threshing,  winnowing,  and  stacking  their 
corn.  The  threshing  was  effected  by  means  of  a  kind 
of  flail,  or  carpet-beater,  with  a  handle,  lo  to  12  feet 
long,  finished  with  a  padded  palm,  or  in  some  cases  a 
three-pronged  fork.  The  operators,  who  were  male, 
worked  quite  naked  (until  the  approach  of  the  cam.era), 
and  the  tedious  effort  of  wielding  the  clumsy  implement 
suggested  a  considerable  waste  of  labour,  though  it  was 
undoubtedly  picturesque.  Close  by  a  group  of  wom.en 
were  engaged  in  winnowing.  Their  method  was  the 
simple  one  of  holding  up  a  basket  full  of  grain  at  arms'- 
length  and  spilling  it  slowly  to  the  ground,  allowing  the 
chaff  to  be  carried  away  by  the  breeze.  They  also 
worked  with  as  little  clothing  as  possible,  being  naked 
to  the  waist,  with  the  body,  face,  and  arms  well  smeared 
with  white  clay,  which  had  the  effect,  we  were  told,  of 
preventing  irritation  from  the  chaff.  A  little  farther  on 
we  came  across  a  quantity  of  the  unthreshed  sorghum 
ready  stocked  in  well-bound  bundles,  the  form  and  the 
neatness  of  which  were  as  unusual  to  us  as  the  native 
methods  of  treating  it. 

F 


S2      THROUGH  THE  HEART  OF  AFRICA 


The  heat  in  the  plains  was  as  trying  as  we  had  found 
it  anywhere  in  the  territory,  but  one  good  result  was  that 
we  did  not  suffer  much  inconvenience  except  in  the  matter 
of  cooking  and  bread-baking  from  the  fact  that  the  only 
fuel  that  could  be  obtained  at  our  camp  was  in  the  form 
of  pieces  of  split  euphorbia  at  three  for  a  heller.  We  were 
by  this  time  beginning  to  wonder  whether  we  should  soon 
be  asked  to  buy  our  water,  but  the  natives  assured  us  that 
things  did  not  go  quite  so  far  as  that. 

On  the  following  day,  the  23rd  of  September,  the 
equinox,  after  a  tremendous  sprint  to  the  top  of  a  small 
rise  so  as  to  set  our  watches  right  for  once  as  the  sun 
appeared  above  the  horizon,  we  caught  our  first  glimpse 
of  Mwanza  gulf,  one  of  the  southern  arms  of  the  Victoria 
Nyanza,  some  3000  or  4000  yards  in  width  and  extending 
some  35  miles  in  length  from  the  main  lake. 

Almost  directly  after  leaving  Misungwi  the  rocky 
ridges  and  kopjes  had  begun  to  close  in,  and  the  open 
plains  gave  place  to  little  valleys  and  hollows  of  increasing 
beauty  and  charm. 

The  road  for  nearly  25  miles  into  Mwanza  was  broad, 
banked  up,  partially  metalled  and  well  drained,  with  an 
avenue  of  mitawa  and  other  trees  planted  on  either  side, 
that  after  a  few  years  should  form,  as  they  meet  over- 
head, a  complete  and  welcome  shelter  from  the  sun's 
rays. 

The  scenery  grew  strangely  like  that  of  Dartmoor  at 
times.  The  glistening  gulf  on  the  left  with  its  cliffs,  here 
green,  there  gleaming  white,  and  studded  with  granite 
islets — the  counterpart  of  the  kopjes  on  the  land — of  all 
of  which  we  caught  ever  fresh  glimpses  through  each  little 
dip  and  valley  that  we  crossed,  gave  an  added  beauty  to 
a  landscape  that  in  itself  was  fair.  It  were  difficult  to 
imagine  anything  more  fine  than  this  approach  to  the 
township  of  Mwanza,  and  it  was  quite  the  best  bit  of  water 
scenery  we  had  seen  in  Africa,  and,  though  lacking  the 
breadth  and  immensity  of  the  main  lakes,  had  a  charming 
picturesqueness  of  its  own. 

At  times  the  road  wound  through  weird  tangled  masses 


TABORA  TO  MWANZA 


83 


of  granite  rocks,  and  from  the  foot  of  one  of  these  was 
bubbling  a  clear  cold  spring  for  all  the  world  just  like  an 
artificial  well.  Nearer  Mwanza  itself  it  led  quite  close  to 
the  shore,  which  was  low  and  thickly  clothed  with  shrubs 
and  tangled  undergrowth,  and  skirted  the  edge  of  a  belt 
of  wide-spreading  and  shady  trees.  We  reached  the 
German  port  at  about  9  a.m.  on  September  25th. 

During  the  last  two  days,  besides  overtaking  some  hun- 
dreds of  natives  going  in  for  loads,  we  had  met  a  constant 
stream  of  carriers  on  their  way  into  the  interior  with  bales 
and  cases  of  goods  that  had  come  from  Mombasa  by  the 
Uganda  railway  and  the  lake  route ;  the  last  day  we 
must  have  met  between  1500  and  2000 — the  climax  to 
the  continuous  demonstration  of  the  fallacy  of  the  German 
Official  view. 


VII 


MWANZA  AND  THE  ADMINISTRATION  OF 
GERMAN  EAST  AFRICA 

Description  of  Mwanza — Perambulations  and  perplexities — Protracted 
negotiations  with  the  Customs  department — General  impressions  of 
German  East  Africa — The  country,  natives,  markets  and  small 
coinage,  climate — An  examination  of  the  old  regime  and  the  new. 

The  township  of  Mwanza,  situated  at  the  end  of  a  narrow 

level  valley  debouching  on  a  semicircular  bay  near  the 

head  of  the  Mwanza  gulf,  has  the  makings  of  quite  a 

beautiful  little  place. 

Some  of  its  best  buildings  are  scattered  along  or  near 

the  foreshore,  and  some,  e.g.  the  fort  and  residence  of  the 

Commandant,  are  perched  in  the  hills  overlooking  the  bay 

from  the  north-east.    Near  the  centre  of  the  town  is  a 

fine  open  square  with  a  magnificent  old  tree  in  the  centre 

of  it,  the  Boma,  gaol  and  office  buildings  on  the  lake  side 

and  the  native  market  on  another.    The  latter  is  in  the 

same  style  as  those  at  Tabora,  but  larger  and  consisting 

of  a  single  building.    The  Boma  fort  and  most  of  the 

residences  are  built  in  the  same  substantial  granite  as  we 

had  seen  at  Tabora,  with  red  iron  roofs.    To  the  left  of 

the  square,  and  separated  from  it  by  a  few  scattered 

buildings,  is  a  broad  common  bounded  on  its  further  side 

by  a  huge  outcrop  of  granite  rocks  which  merge  in  an 

irregular  ridge,  hiding  from  view  the  waters  of  the  gulf 

arm  before  it  turns  the  corner  into  the  bay.    In  the 

middle  of  this  was  a  large  square  building  in  process  of 

construction,  which  we  learnt  later  was  the  beginning  of 

the  wireless  telegraphy  station  for  communication  with 

Bukoba.    Running  south-east  from  the  market  square 

is  a  broad  street  with  smaller  ones  branching  from  it, 

forming  the  Indian  and  native  quarter ;  for  Mwanza  has 

84 


\'IE\V    l-KOM   OUK   CAMr   Al  MWA.N/.A. 


MWANZA— GERMAN  EAST  AFRICA  85 


quite  a  considerable  Indian  and  Arab  trading  popu- 
lation. 

In  the  town  itself  there  are  not  many  trees,  but  the 
rocky  hills  on  either  side,  especially  to  the  east,  begin 
to  be  well  covered,  and  in  some  places  the  lake  shore 
shows  refreshing  signs  of  the  energy  and  foresight  of  the 
early  planter.  East  of  the  Boma  the  water's  edge  is 
fringed  for  some  little  distance  by  a  huge  clump  of  palms, 
the  streets  are  mostly  provided  with  rapidly  growing 
avenues  of  nntawa,  while  the  gardens  in  front  of  one  house, 
at  the  extreme  west  corner  of  the  town,  are  shaded  by  a 
grove  of  magnificent  old  mangoes,  guavas,  limes,  bananas, 
mitawa,  and  many  another  tropical  tree,  stretching  right 
down  to  the  lake  shore,  that  suggested  an  older  occupa- 
tion than  the  rest  of  the  town.  To  the  left  as  one  looks 
out  towards  the  lake  the  foreground  is  dotted  with  a 
huge  granite  boulder  or  two  rising  out  of  .  the  water,  some 
grotesquely  balanced  on  the  top  of  their  fellows,  the 
remains  of  the  rocky  ridge  that  once  doubtless  stretched 
right  across  the  bay. 

After  a  few  minutes'  rest  under  the  shade  of  the  market- 
square  tree,  we  got  the  sentry  at  the  Boma  gates  to  show 
us  the  Offices  of  the  "  Distrikts  Kommissar,"  which  we 
found  were  just  round  a  corner  and  on  the  other  side  of 
the  same  building.  Speaking  English  without  much  diffi- 
culty he  gave  us  a  pleasant  and  cordial  welcome,  and 
after  a  short  conversation,  yet  long  enough  to  show  us 
that  he  was  another  example  of  the  new  type  of  official 
who  takes  an  interest  and  a  pleasure  in  his  work  amongst 
the  natives,  pointed  out  the  direction  of  the  wharf,  at 
which  he  told  us  we  could  settle  all  our  Customs  and 
steamer  transport  business.  He  then  sent  a  boy  along 
to  show  us  the  best  place  to  camp,  which  he  said  we 
could  do  wherever  we  liked.  After  finding  the  spot, 
which  was  well  out  of  the  town  just  short  of  the  gardens 
mentioned  above  (in  the  shady  arbour  formed  by  two 
or  three  magnificent  trees),  right  on  the  edge  of  the  lake 
but  screened  from  it  and  the  breeze  by  a  mass  of  rocks 
with  a  simple  but  rather  impressive  memorial  to  Bismarck 


86      THROUGH  THE   HEART  OF  AFRICA 


at  their  base,  and  which  was,  in  fact,  about  as  perfect  a 
spot  for  a  camp  as  could  be  imagined,  we  proceeded  to 
look  for  the  steamer  and  Customs  Offices,  With  the 
steamer  people  we  wanted  to  fix  up  fares  and  freight,  and 
with  the  Customs  to  obtain  the  refund  of  import  duty  paid 
at  Bismarckburg  on  the  kit  we  were  taking  with  us. 
This,  we  knew,  wanted  a  little  engineering,  though  to 
save  expense  we  did  not  intend  taking  more  with  us  than 
we  were  obliged.  A  pier  jutting  out  into  the  lake  seemed 
to  indicate  the  spot,  so,  though  it  was  not  exactly  where 
the  Distrikts  Kommissar  had  pointed,  thither  we  wended, 
only  to  find,  however,  a  busy  yard,  backed  by  a  large 
shed  which  was  thinly  populated  by  Indian  clerks.  As 
this  did  not  look  promising,  we  decided  to  try  the  direction 
indicated  to  us  at  the  Boma,  and  passing  what  appeared 
to  be  the  Post  Office,  though  disguised  under  a  totally 
different  title  to  the  same  institution  at  Tabora,  we  worked 
round  to  the  other  side  of  the  Boma  block.  By  this  time 
the  sentry  was  beginning  to  know  us,  but  success  still 
eluded  our  efforts  :  the  way  simply  led  past  a  shop,  which 
appeared  to  be  a  local  Lockhart's,  to  the  lake-side,  where, 
under  the  shade  of  the  palms  which  clothed  it,  extensive 
laundry  operations  were  in  progress.  Undaunted,  we  de- 
cided to  try  the  Post  Office  in  the  hope  that  it  was  not 
one,  but  were  disappointed :  it  was.  The  Postmaster, 
however,  spoke  a  little  English,  and  on  hearing  our  quest 
directed  us  to  the  Steamer  Offices — the  other  end  of  the 
town.  We  should  find  it,  he  said,  after  passing  the 
engine-house,  and  should  see  the  name  "  D.O.A.  Nyanza 
—something  or  other — Gesellschaft  "  over  the  door.  The 
scattered  nature  of  Mwanza  town  may  appear  to  have 
pleased  us  at  first  from  an  artistic  point  of  view  and  at  a 
distance,  and  we  are  not  prepared  to  say  that  it  did  not, 
but  with  a  house-to-house  visiting  job  such  as  we  seemed 
to  have  got  in  hand  by  this  time  picturesqueness  and 
spaciousness  were  rapidly  losing  their  charm,  and  we 
were  beginning  to  wonder  why  the  devil  they  couldn't 
have  either  grouped  all  their  buildings  round  the  square, 
and  put  them  back  to  back  in  a  nice  solid  block  like  a 


A  MEMORIAL  TO  BiSMARCK  NP:AR  OUR  CAMP. 


MWANZA— GERMAN  EAST  AFRICA  87 


respectable  British  slum.  However,  we  had  business  that 
nobody  whom  we  had  met  was  painfully  anxious  to  do 
for  us,  so  we  girded  up  our  loins,  wiped  several  beads  of 
perspiration  from  our  brows,  and  made  a  start. 

After  walking  eastwards  along  a  regular  street  for 
something  over  a  mile,  we  seemed  really  to  have  got  there. 
The  polysyllabic  signboard  was  there,  so  was  the  engine- 
house.  Turning  in  and  passing  the  latter,  which  seemed 
to  contain  an  up-to-date  plant  for  cleaning  rice,  which 
natives  were  sorting  on  bucksails  in  the  yard  outside,  we 
walked  about  a  furlong  up  a  broad  path  to  an  office. 
Making  ourselves  understood  without  very  much  difficulty 
by  a  stout  and  preoccupied  gentleman  in  the  invariable 
white  duck,  who  first  began  by  mystifying  us  with  facts 
or  fancy  anent  some  German  boats  of  whose  existence 
we  had  never  heard  (possibly  freight  barges  or  Arab 
dhows)  and  seemed  in  a  deuce  of  a  hurry  to  say  good-bye 
when  he  had  gathered  what  we  wanted,  we  learnt  that 
we  had  once  more  come  to  entirely  the  wrong  place. 

With  somewhat  impaired  tempers,  and  a  feeling  that 
if  we  met  an  Englishman  he  would  have  the  time  of  his 
life  in  Mwanza,  we  turned  sadly  away.  At  quite  a  short 
distance  on  the  way  back  we  came  on  a  gateway  with  a 
brass  plate  bearing  the  legend  "  Wm.  O'Swald  &  Co.," 
and  thinking  that  here  we  might  be  going  to  find  the 
animal  we  longed  for,  we  walked  another  furlong  up 
another  path  and  besieged  another  office  at  the  top  of  it. 

There  was  no  Englishman,  but  there  was  a  very  nice 
little  man  who  spoke  very  fair  English,  grasped  the 
situation  with  a  lucidity  that  we  had  feared  was  in  some 
way  impossible  in  the  Mwanza  climate,  and  told  us  every- 
thing we  wanted  to  know.  The  steamer  came  in  on 
Monday,  he  said,  and  left  again  in  a  day  or  two.  The 
office  was  next  to  the  Post  Office  and  the  Boma  ;  it  con- 
tained a  Goanese  clerk  who  spoke  English,  but  if  we 
could  not  excavate  it,  Hansing  &  Co.,  who  were  the  last 
house  at  the  other  end  of  the  town,  and  acted  as  the 
Uganda  Railway  Agents,  would  be  able  to  give  us  any 
information  we  required. 


88      THROUGH  THE   HEART  OF  AFRICA 


A  little  encouraged,  but  wondering  what  kind  of 
mental  aberration  it  was  that  was  afflictins:  the  Post- 
master,  we  started  off  again.  This  time,  however,  we  did 
know  where  we  were  going,  for  it  was  the  very  shed  into 
which  we  had  looked  some  hours  before,  but  had  been 
discouraged  by  the  appearance  of  doubtless  that  very 
Goanese  clerk.  However,  our  perplexities  were  shortly 
ended.  Without  further  delay  we  explained  our  troubles 
to  the  said  pundit,  and  his  grasp  of  the  situation  and  his 
excellent  English  so  charmed  us,  that,  in  spite  of  his 
ingenuous  attempt  to  make  us  believe  that  the  next 
steamer  left  on  October  lo — whereas  it  was  really  due 
on  the  26th  September,  and  would  leave  on  the  28th — 
we  felt  warmed  towards  him  and  his  race  in  general. 
Steamer  fares,  &c.,  would  be  fixed  up  on  board  the  vessel 
when  she  had  arrived,  and  we  arranged  to  return  at  4  P.M. 
to  fix  up  the  Customs  business.  Our  friendly  babu  was 
a  Uganda  Railway  employe,  but  he  introduced  us  to  a  col- 
league in  the  Customs  Department,  an  equally  inoffensive 
specimen  with  an  equally  efficient  knowledge  of  our 
tongue.  As  the  German  in  charge  was  quite  ignorant  of 
it,  the  existence  of  these  clerks  was  decidedly  cheering. 

These  exhausting  perambulations  satisfactorily  ended, 
it  occurred  to  us  that  an  airy  little  caravanserai  which  we 
had  passed  as  we  entered  the  Boma  square,  and  on  the 
verandah  of  which  we  had  seen  a  genial  German  airing 
himself,  might  possibly  be  Hansing's,  or,  if  it  were  not, 
that  it  had  certainly  suggested  lager  beer  and  such-like 
refreshment  which  the  situation  distinctly  indicated. 

He  was  not  Hansing,  but  he  was  charmed  to  serve 
and  join  us  in  the  matter  of  a  Munchner  or  two,  and  for 
ten  minutes  we  conversed  with  him  in  a  mixture  of 
English  and  Ki-Swahili — his  knowledge  of  the  former 
being  about  equal  to  our  acquaintance  with  the  latter. 

After  purchasing  some  tinned  fruits,  hors  d'oeuvres, 
pickled  cucumbers,  polony  sausages  and  Dimitrino 
cigarettes  from  his  spotless  and  well-ordered  store,  we 
proceeded  to  Hansing's  to  see  if  they  would  change  our 
German  money  into  British.    We  found  the  firm  without 


MWANZA— GERMAN   EAST  AFRICA  89 


difficulty,  hidden  in  the  gardens  referred  to  above,  just 
beyond  our  camp,  which  was  a  surprise,  as  we  had  thought 
we  were  pitched  beyond  the  Hmits  of  the  township.  They 
could  not  do  any  exchange  for  us,  being  at  the  time  out 
of  English  rupees,  but  no  less  than  two  of  the  firm  spoke 
excellent  English  and  showed  a  refreshing  willingness  to 
oblige  and  serve  us. 

After  lunch  and  a  rest  in  camp  we  reverted  to  the 
Customs  Office,  taking  with  us  the  trophies  that  we  wished 
to  forward  to  England,  and  on  which  there  was  export 
duty  to  pay,  hoping  to  get  the  whole  business  through 
before  closing-time.  But  it  was  not  to  be.  The  airy 
denial  given  us  at  Bismarckburg  that  any  details  would 
be  required  in  order  to  secure  our  refund  was  as  much 
beside  the  mark  as  was  the  clerk's  assurance  in  the  morn- 
ing that  nothing  was  necessary  beyond  the  production  of 
papers.  All  the  goods  we  were  taking  out  of  the  country 
had  to  be  produced  in  order  to  see,  he  said,  that  the 
diminution  of  the  same  was  as  we  stated,  and  that  their 
valuation  was  correct.  It  was  in  vain  that  we  pointed 
out  that  their  valuation,  correct  or  otherwise,  was  quite 
immaterial,  as,  whether  we  had  paid  too  much  or  too  little, 
in  either  case  the  valuation  was  Lieutenant  Wach's  at 
Bismarckburg,  and  the  idea  was  that  we  were  going  to 
get  it  back.  Our  morning's  estimate  of  the  babu's  in- 
telligence and  eagerness  to  oblige  was  evidently  a  mis- 
taken one.  He  was  quite  unable  or  unwilling  to  see  our 
point,  and  further  seemed — unless  it  was  merely  lack  of 
savoir  faire — to  consider  it  his  duty  to  place  as  many 
obstacles  as  the  law  provided  in  the  way  of  getting  through 
our  business  with  facility  and  despatch. 

It  was  Saturday,  and  the  property  we  were  taking  had 
to  be  produced — and  produced  on  Monday  on  its  way  to 
the  steamer  ;  Tuesday  they  would  be  too  busy  ;  they  could 
not  send  any  one  to  our  camp  to  do  the  inspection,  and 
the  fact  that  we  should  consequently  have  to  spend  Monday 
night  in  the  streets  with  neither  tents  nor  beds  left  them 
quite  unmoved.  The  occasional  visit  of  a  white  clerk  or  two 
to  the  consultation  did  nothing  to  relieve  the  situation. 


go      THROUGH   THE   HEART  OF  AFRICA 


During  an  armistice  in  the  matter  of  deposit  refunds, 
we  turned  to  the  subject  of  the  export  of  horns  and  skins  ; 
this,  at  any  rate,  must  be  a  simple  matter.  We  had  again, 
however,  underrated  the  ingenuity  of  the  department. 
We  had  intended  to  pay  the  export  duty  on  the  trophies, 
take  them  back  to  our  camp,  and  there  pack  them  up  for 
despatch  to  Europe  ;  but  no,  we  must  leave  them  there 
once  they  had  been  checked  ;  we  could  not  take  them 
out  again.  But,  the  babu  said,  they  could  be  packed  up 
for  us  there.  Distrust,  however,  was  growing  mutual  and 
we  didn't  jump  at  it,  especially  as  he  seemed  unable  to 
explain  how,  when,  where,  why,  by  whom  or  what  for 
the  packing  would  be  done. 

Eventually  both  of  us  having  all  but  reached  the  limit 
of  our  patience  and  chafing  not  a  little  at  the  absence  of 
even  a  chair — making  it  necessary  to  risk  our  trousers  on 
the  top  of  packing-cases  bristling  with  nails  and  scrap 
iron — after  the  group  had  been  joined  by  a  second  German 
who  spoke  a  little  English,  and  by  yet  another  Goanese 
who  spoke  German  too,  after  the  German  had  helped  the 
situation  by  scattering  our  horns  with  his  dainty  foot  into 
some  special  pattern  of  his  own,  and  telling  us  that  a  reed- 
buck  was  something  else  and  that  a  jackal  did  not  exist, 
after  these  and  others  had  come  and  gone  with  a  look 
and  a  shrug  some  three  or  four  separate  times  before 
they  had  even  succeeded  in  getting  a  list  of  our  trophies 
on  to  paper,  we  made  the  proposal  that  we  be  allowed  to 
take  the  trophies  away  and  pack  them,  after  which  they 
could  unpack  them  again  if  they  suspected  us  of  smug- 
gling, or  not  as  they  pleased,  and  that  the  rest  of  our 
exports  should  come  through  on  Monday  provided  that 
we  were  able  to  go  on  board  the  steamer  that  day,  a 
compromise  which  was  actually  accepted,  with  our  opinion 
of  the  Customs  department  now  thoroughly  rearranged, 
and  with  a  hint  we  could  not  resist  giving  to  our  friend 
the  railway  clerk  that  if  his  confreres  knew  what  really 
respectable  people  we  were  after  all  they  might  be  less 
disposed  to  suspect  our  bond-fides  and  to  tangle  us  up 
with  red  tape,  we  left  the  scene  of  our  struggles.  We 


MWANZA— GERMAN   EAST  AFRICA 


91 


then  succeeded  in  getting  some  notes  changed  into  rupees 
at  Messrs.  Hansing,  though  it  was  really  past  closing- 
time,  and  proceeded  to  pay  off  our  carriers.  None  made 
any  attempt  to  move  of¥  that  day,  nor  appeared  in  the 
least  put  out  at  having  been  paid  too  late  to  enable  them 
to  do  so.  In  fact,  they  accepted  it,  as  they  really  had 
accepted  everything  all  the  way,  with  perfect  good  nature. 

Sunday  was  a  day  of  comparative  inaction,  being 
devoted  chiefly  to  rest,  to  the  packing  of  our  heads  and 
skins,  and  a  short  stroll  in  the  evening  to  see  what  we 
could  make  of  the  wireless  telegraphy  construction,  which 
was  not  much. 

On  Monday  morning  we  took  our  packages  for  Europe 
to  Hansings  in  the  hope  of  getting  them  off  our  hands, 
but  found  that  we  were  bound  to  take  them  to  the  Customs 
in  person.  Bracing  ourselves  for  a  further  effort,  we 
went  along,  but  this  time,  in  spite  of  their  warning  that 
Tuesday  would  be  impossible,  they  said,  "  Come  to- 
morrow ;  plenty  of  time  to-morrow.  Declaration  has  to 
be  made  out,  and  it's  nearly  closing-time."  Analysis  of 
our  feelings  was  becoming  too  complicated  a  process  by 
this  time,  and  we  returned  to  camp  feeling  almost  philo- 
sophical. At  5  P.M.  the  arrival  of  the  steamer  put  rather 
a  different  complexion  on  things,  and,  though  in  conse- 
quence of  the  postponement  of  clearing  operations,  her 
arrival  before  Tuesday  was  not  now  a  matter  of  vital 
importance,  it  cheered  us  considerably  to  pay  her  a  visit 
and  make  the  acquaintance  of  her  officers,  who  gave  us 
permission  to  come  aboard  the  following  day. 

After  our  last  night  on  German  East  Africa  soil  we  were 
up  early,  but  the  Customs  department  were  even  earlier, 
for  while  we  were  dressing  it  sent  a  message  to  say  it  was 
ready  for  us,  and  at  about  ten  o'clock  we  had  packed  our 
kit  and,  with  the  help  of  a  couple  of  trolleys  from  Messrs. 
Hansing,  managed  to  convey  it  to  the  Customs  shed.  We 
were  taking  but  little  with  us  besides  personal  clothing, 
tents,  bedding  and  camp  kit  ;  the  few  provisions  that  were 
left  over  we  had,  in  the  absence  of  purchasers,  either 
presented  to  our  carriers  or  thrown  into  the  lake. 


92       THROUGH   THE   HEART  OF  AFRICA 


The  Customs  department  were  more  than  ready  for 
us — they  must  have  been  awaiting  us  eagerly  since  dawn  ; 
they  met  us  with  the  injunction  to  come  again  at  three 
o'clock.  Thoroughly  resigned,  we  consoled  ourselves  with 
lunch  on  board  the  s.s.  Sibyl,  and  then  prepared  to  obey. 
Whether  it  was  our  probably  obtrusive  attitude  of  humility 
that  did  it,  or  whether  things  had  merely  arrived  at  that 
stage  when  after  all  they  do  sometimes  get  done,  it  was 
soon  obvious  that  there  was  quite  a  chance  of  our  various 
objects  being  finally  achieved.  The  business  of  passing 
our  kit  was  accomplished  with  quite  unexpected  despatch, 
our  declaration  was  accepted  almost  in  toto,  and  scarcely  a 
package  was  opened  for  examination. 

The  business  of  calculating  what  was  due  to  us  and 
what  was  due  from  us  took  the  particular  Goanese  who 
attended  to  us  a  most  unconscionable  time,  but,  after  one 
or  two  false  starts,  he  got  through  it  and  we  really  did  get 
back  quite  as  much  as  we  had  expected. 

Export  duty  on  trophies  cost  us  Rs.24.90.  Import 
duty  refund  amounted  to  Rs.137,  leaving  a  balance  to  us 
of  Rs.112.10. 

There  remained  the  business  of  conveying  our  property 
on  board.  This  in  our  elation  we  had  almost  overlooked, 
but  eventually  accomplished  with  the  valuable  assistance 
of  yet  another  clerk,  of  the  impressive  name  of  Vasco  de 
Gama,  an  employe  of  Messrs.  Hansing,  who  placed  a  gang 
of  savages  at  our  disposal.  With  our  last  load  and  our 
Rhodesian  staff  safely  on  board  at  five  o'clock,  our  anxieties 
were  at  an  end.  In  conclusion  it  is  but  fair  to  say  that 
this  was  the  only  case  in  which  we  experienced  the  slightest 
difficulty  with  any  department  of  the  German  administra- 
tion, that  it  was  unaccompanied  by  a  trace  of  intentional 
incivility  or  any  deliberate  attempt  to  embarrass  us  with 
obstacles  or  red  tape,  and  that  it  was  probably  largely  due 
to  our  total  ignorance  of  the  German  language. 

We  thought  at  one  time  that  we  should  have  some 
difficulty  in  exchanging  the  balance  of  our  German  money 
for  English,  but  found  a  convenient  solution  of  the  problem 
in  the  acceptance  of  a  cheque  from  the  firm  of  Alidina 


MWANZA— GERMAN   EAST  AFRICA 


Visram  on  his  branch  at  Entebbe,  at  a  discount  of  3  per 
cent.  This  left  us,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  with  a  net  gain  of  loi- 
per  cent,  on  the  gold  we  had  changed  at  Bismarckburg. 

A  residence  of  but  six  weeks  in  a  foreign  protectorate 
does  not  seem,  on  the  face  of  it,  to  provide  a  very  adequate 
equipment  for  critic  and  historian,  but  the  fact  that  German 
East  Africa  is  a  next-door  neighbour  to  us  in  Northern 
Rhodesia,  the  close  similarity  of  the  local  conditions  to 
those  with  which  we  have  been  familiar  for  some  years 
and  the  frank  welcome  and  open  discussion  that  we  every- 
where enjoyed,  encourages  us  to  offer  our  commentary 
without  apology  or  misgiving. 

The  common  impression  that  we  should  not  find  much 
to  learn  from  the  German  administration  of  East  Africa 
is  founded  on  a  superficial  or  out-of-date  knowledge  of 
the  facts,  and  recalls  a  passage  in  Sir  Charles  Eliot's  work 
on  the  East  Africa  Protectorate  dealing  with  the  German 
colony  : — 

"I  would  not,  however,"  he  says,  "have  us  lay  any 
flattering  unction  to  our  so'ils,  and  congratulate  ourselves, 
as  we  are  wont  to  do,  on  managing  everything  better  than 
all  other  nations." 

Naturally  enough  we  judged  the  German  system  by 
our  own,  and  in  some  ways  found  it  wanting :  as  a  nation 
we  have  had  far  greater  experience  in  ruling  tropical 
dependencies,  and  we  were  quick  to  notice  what  we  con- 
sidered the  weak  points  in  the  German  administration  ; 
but  at  the  same  time  we  saw  much  to  admire,  and  the 
general  verdict  must,  we  think,  be  one  of  congratulation  to 
our  neighbours.  It  should  be  noted  that  our  experiences 
and  criticism  refer  to  but  little  beyond  the  region  actually 
visited  ;  this  was  one  of  the  poorest  stretches  in  the  territory, 
and,  being  so  far  from  the  coast,  one  of  the  least  developed. 
Our  remarks  are  probably  entirely  inapplicable,  for  instance, 
to  the  country  round  Kilimanjaro,  the  plantation  area,  and 
the  coast  line,  and  must  not  be  taken  to  refer  to  those 
parts. 

As  to  the  nature  of  the  country  through  which  we  passed 


94      THROUGH  THE   HEART  OF  AFRICA 


taken  all  round  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  this  section  of 
the  German  protectorate  is  poor.  It  is  difficult  to  see  that 
it  can  ever  come  to  much  in  itself,  though  it  may  prove 
useful  enough  in  connection  with  the  whole,  and,  being 
fairly  well  populated,  will  afford  a  source  of  labour  for 
the  more  fertile  and  promising  districts.  The  whole 
country  is  poorly  and  most  of  it  badly  watered,  which  is 
in  itself  a  great  handicap.  The  neighbourhood  of  Mwazye, 
known  as  Lyangalile,  was  the  only  part  that  had  perennial 
streams,  and  although  they  were  good,  they  were  not  very 
numerous,  and  the  water  in  them  compares  unfavourably 
with  that  of  the  streams  in  the  Southern  Tanganyika 
plateau.  The  rest  of  the  country  draws  its  water-supply 
from  water-holes,  poor  in  quality  and  generally  deficient  in 
quantity.  The  timber  supply  is  poor  ;  there  is  a  little  in 
Lyangalile,  and  a  small  though  good  belt  of  forest  near 
Kalula's,  and  we  heard  of  some  near  Ngaya,  though  we 
did  not  actually  see  it.  The  northern  part  of  the  territory 
visited  is  reputed  to  be  highly  mineralised.  One  of  the 
most  noticeable  features  was  the  live  stock  ;  the  first  part, 
to  and  inclusive  of  Rukwa,  was  stocked  with  large  numbers 
of  sheep  and  goats  and  a  few  cattle  ;  the  section  from 
Rungwa  to  the  neighbourhood  of  Tabora  had  practically 
none  of  either  ;  Tabora  has  a  very  large  supply  of  cattle 
in  its  immediate  vicinity,  and  from  thence  to  the  plains 
round  the  Mwanza  gulf  there  are  enormous  herds  of  cattle 
everywhere,  but  there  is  no. getting  away  from  the  fact  that 
most  of  these  cattle  live  in  a  dense  "  fly  "  belt,  and  that 
some  at  any  rate  of  the  fly  is  infected,  so  that  the  prospect 
is  not  very  bright. 

The  natives  are  of  a  good  type,  and  the  main  divisions, 
the  Fipa  stock  and  the  Wanyamwezi,  are  both  of  good 
physique  and  quite  up  to  the  average  in  intelligence. 

The  native  chiefs,  headmen  and  population  generally 
we  everywhere  found  courteous  and  obliging,  and  also 
contented  and  happy.  The  beginning  of  the  semi- 
civilised  Swahili  element  not  unnaturally  jarred  a  little 
upon  us,  though  we  recognised  how  infinitely  superior 
it  was  as  a  civilising  and  educating  influence  to  the 


MWANZA— GERMAN    EAST  AFRICA  95 

"  Kitchen  Kaffir  "  element  of  South  Africa  that  is  encroach- 
ing on  Northern  Rhodesia,  and  nowhere  did  we  meet 
anything  to  resent  in  its  attitude.  Scarcely  a  group  of 
natives  or  a  batch  of  carriers  would  pass  without  the 
greeting  of  "  Yaiiibo,  bvoana  "  or  "  Yaiitbo,  Bwana  Mkubim." 

We  were  interested  to  notice  during  the  last  two 
days  before  reaching  Mwanza  that  the  villagers  seemed 
of  a  distinctly  less  sophisticated  and  of  a  different  facial 
type,  many  recalling  the  Mashukulumbwe  type  though 
without  the  hair  cones  and  dental  disfiguration.  Our 
carriers  gave  us  no  trouble,  and  though  a  little  slow 
to  realise  their  duties  in  the  way  of  gathering  firewood, 
&c.,  and  at  first  inclined  to  complain  that  we  wanted  to 
travel  by  too  long  stages,  we  found  them  willing  and 
cheerful,  and  able  to  do  considerably  more  than  the  local 
estimate  of  ten  miles  a  day.  On  the  whole  we  preferred 
the  southern  (Wa-fipa)  group,  probably  because  they  more 
closely  resembled  those  to  whom  we  are  accustomed. 
We  passed  through  a  good  many  types,  which  are 
largely  distinguished  from  one  another  by  their  houses 
and  village  systems  and  by  their  food.  At  first  the 
ordinary  village  of  the  Nyasaland  and  Northern  Rhodesian 
type  with  some  30  to  50  huts,  circular  in  shape,  built 
with  poles  and  mud-plastered  walls  and  thatched  roofs, 
with  millet  as  the  staple  crop.  In  Rukwa  the  villages 
were  of  a  similar  type,  but  the  huts  were  built  of  split 
wood,  and  millet  was  replaced  largely  by  maize.  North 
of  Rukwa  the  tembo  system  of  building,  which  we 
have  described  at  length  in  an  earlier  chapter,  was  in 
vogue,  and  the  people  still  relied  on  maize  for  most  of 
their  food  supply.  At  and  after  Tabora  we  came  to  the 
group  system  of  village,  each  one  consisting  of  a  family 
in  three  or  four  huts,  dotted  about  on  the  fertile  plains, 
with  the  "  camp "  known  by  the  name  of  the  locality, 
and  not  by  that  of  any  particular  village.  These  people 
grow  kaffir  corn  (sorghum).  It  was  in  this  section  that 
we  found  the  sokoni  (more  correctly  soko)  first  properly 
established.  This  useful  institution  is  almost  a  necessity 
for  carriers  in  a  country  where  the  village  group  system 


96      THROUGH  THE  HEART  OF  AFRICA 


exists,  for  a  big  gang  that  had  to  forage  amongst  isolated 
huts  scattered  over  such  a  large  area  could  not  buy  food 
as  it  could  in  a  large  concentrated  village.  The  village 
sokoni  is  simply  a  shed  at  the  camp,  whither  natives 
from  the  surrounding  groups  of  huts  come  and  sit 
with  food  for  sale — porridge,  grain,  flour,  beans,  ground 
nuts,  bananas,  milk,  beer,  butter,  meat,  and,  where  it 
is  scarce,  firewood.  The  carriers,  who  are  continually 
passing  in  large  numbers,  can  buy  all  that  they  require 
at  the  sokoni.  The  vendors  have  small  tins  (generally 
old  cigarette  tins)  and  sell  at  a  regular  rate  of  i,  2,  or 
3  heller  per  tin  (100  heller  =  i  rupee).  Flour  had  been 
a  bit  scarce  the  year  we  passed,  though  it  was  not  half 
so  dear  as  it  often  is  in  Northern  Rhodesia,  while  ground 
nuts  and  beans  were  remarkably  cheap.  Meat  was 
obtainable  almost  everywhere  at  about  id.  per  lb.  The 
prices  are  officially  fixed  at  each  sokoni ;  there  is  no 
haggling,  nor  is  there  any  difficulty  whatever  about 
feeding  the  carriers. 

This  market  system,  no  doubt  originally  due  to  Arab 
initiation  and  example,  can  only  be  possible  amongst 
natives  whose  commercial  instincts  have  reached  a  certain 
stage  of  development,  and  this  instinct  is  fostered  doubt- 
less by  the  existence  of  the  small  copper  coinage. 

The  difficulty  experienced,  for  instance,  in  Northern 
Rhodesia  in  inducing  the  individual  native  either  to  present 
for  sale  enough  food  to  represent  the  sum  of  sixpence  or 
to  accept  a  copper  or  two  for  a  smaller  quantity  is  over- 
come. No  amount  of  food,  beer,  snuff,  &c.,  can  really  be 
too  small  to  be  worth  half  a  heller,  the  200th  part  of 
a  rupee,  and  though  it  was  difficult  to  convince  our 
Rhodesian  natives  of  the  fact,  the  price  of  food  at  the 
sokonis  averaged  rather  less  than  in  Northern  Rhodesia, 
e.g.  I  or  2  heller  for  a  handful  of  ground  nuts  struck  them 
as  exorbitant,  though  50  or  100  handfuls  were  probably 
more  than  they  could  usually  buy  in  their  own  homes 
for  IS.  4d.  Fowls  and  eggs,  though  fairly  plentiful  off 
the  main  route,  were  very  scarce  along  the  main  roads. 
Near  and  at  Tabora  and  Mwanza  eggs  can  be  occasionally 


MWANZA— GERMAN   EAST  AFRICA  97 


bought  from  Indian  hawkers  and  natives  at  two  or  three 
hellers  apiece.  Milk  was  very  often  obtainable,  at  the 
reasonable  price  of  about  a  pint  and  a  half  for  six  or  seven 
hellers,  but  the  raw  native,  unless  specially  warned,  is  liable 
to  bring  that  of  the  day  before,  thinking  it  as  good  as  fresh. 
Butter  is  sold  at  many  of  the  markets,  but  is,  as  a  rule^ 
uneatable,  being  made  mostly  as  an  ingredient  of  soap  or 
for  toilet  purposes. 

The  climate  of  the  highlands  of  German  East  Africa, 
certainly  as  far  north  as  Tabora,  presented  but  little  differ- 
ence from  that  prevailing  in  the  greater  part  of  North- 
eastern Rhodesia.  The  Rukwa  Valley  may  be  compared 
to  that  of  the  Luangwa,  both  in  temperature  and,  to  a 
certain  extent,  in  its  vegetation,  though  the  heat  was  not 
quite  so  trying. 

From  Tabora  to  Mwanza  it  grew  perceptibly  warmer, 
and  we  found  it  quite  worth  while,  especially  for  treks  of 
twenty  miles  or  thereabouts,  to  start  before  daybreak. 
The  open  nature  of  the  country  and  masses  of  rock  pro- 
bably have  the  effect  of  accentuating  the  heat. 

The  dryness  doubtless  accounts  for  the  absence  of 
mosquitoes,  of  which  we  noticed  barely  half  a  dozen  from 
end  to  end  of  the  whole  territory,  and,  in  fact,  with  the 
exception  of  a  plague  of  tiny  flies  at  two  of  our  camps,  and 
of  course  the  tsetse  fly  that  infested  a  large  part  of  our 
route,  the  ordinary  pests  were  almost  non-existent. 

Our  natives  suffered  very  little  from  sickness,  while 
we  ourselves  enjoyed  perfect  health  until  we  reached 
Mwanza,  where  our  slight  indisposition  was  probably  merely 
due  to  the  reaction  after  so  many  days'  hard  travelling. 

On  the  whole  it  was  not  a  good  shooting  country. 
The  Rukwa  Plains  and  the  Kavu  River  were  good,  though 
the  variety  of  species  was  limited.  The  Ugalla  River  had 
both  quality  and  variety,  but  it  is  a  comparatively  small 
and  secluded  area,  and  the  rest  was  poor.  We  saw  but 
few  traces  of  elephant,  none  of  buffalo  or  rhino,  a  lot  of 
giraffe  spoor,  a  few  ostriches,  eland  and  sable,  a  good  many 
waterbuck,  hartebeeste,  roan,  mpala,  reedbuck,  andwarthog, 
and  huge  herds  of  topi. 

G 


98      THROUGH  THE  HEART  OF  AFRICA 


With  regard  to  the  administration  of  the  country,  it 
must  be  understood  that  it  is  still  in  a  state  of  transition, 
being  partly  military  and  partly  civil,  the  former  of  which 
is  gradually  disappearing.  At  Bismarckburg  the  military 
regime  is  still  in  force,  and  we  were  not  favourably  im- 
pressed by  it.  From  what  we  learnt  from  the  officer  in 
charge,  as  well  as  from  what  we  gathered  from  other 
residents  and  from  personal  observation,  it  is  obvious  that 
the  system,  of  some  of  the  features  of  which  we  have 
already  given  an  account  in  our  second  chapter,  is  a 
bad  one. 

Those  really  in  power  are  the  native  police,  the 
wall  or  Government  headman,  and  the  tribal  chiefs.  As 
no  native  can  appeal  to  the  white  man  except  through 
the  wall,  who  only  takes  up  a  plaintiff's  case  when  it  suits 
him,  and  is  always  open  to  bribery,  the  disadvantages  of 
the  system  are  too  obvious  to  insist  upon.  The  collection 
of  the  poll-tax  (4  rupees  per  annum)  is  left  to  the  chief, 
who  receives  5  per  cent,  of  the  amount  collected.  No 
census  is  taken,  and  the  tax  is  assessed  very  roughly  per 
village,  so  that  the  chief  is  able  to  make  up  the  total  with- 
out calling  upon  his  friends,  exacting  any  shortage  from 
those  who  are  outside  his  circle  of  intimates.  Needless  to 
say,  the  amount  is  considerably  smaller  than  it  would  be 
if  every  one  were  censused  and  obliged  to  pay.  If  the  sum 
produced  falls  below  the  estimate,  police  are  sent  to  fetch 
in  the  people  and  their  flocks,  and  once  again  it  is  not  the 
chief  nor  his  friends  that  suffer.  He  also  exacts  in  some 
parts  very  high  tribute  in  cash,  clothes,  labour,  live-stock, 
and  food  from  his  people,  who  thus  pay  a  double  tax,  as 
well  as  heavy  toll  on  natives  passing  through  his  territory, 
especially  on  labourers  returning  from  the  railway  work 
and  from  the  plantations.  An  aggrieved  party  has  the 
usual  difficulty  in  bringing  a  complaint  to  the  proper 
quarter,  as  the  ivali  through  whom  it  must  go  is  easily 
squared.  The  liberty  allowed  to  the  native  police  also 
often  amounts  to  licence,  and  as  a  wali  never  dreams  of 
reporting  any  policeman,  it  remains  unchecked.  If  there 
were  a  regular  system  of  district  travelling  many  of  these 


MWANZA— GERMAN   EAST  AFRICA  99 


abuses  would  be  bound  to  come  to  light,  but,  as  noted 
elsewhere,  the  military  officer  very  rarely  travels,  and, 
when  he  does,  he  has  a  large  escort  of  military  or  police. 
He  does  not  go  into  the  villages  and  investigate  things 
for  himself,  nor  try  to  check  cases  of  irregularities  in  the 
collection  of  the  poll-tax ;  as  it  is  all  left  in  the  hands  of 
the  chiefs,  walis,  or  headmen,  he  only  hears  what  the 
local  wait  chooses  to  tell  him,  and  knows  little  or  nothing 
of  what  is  going  on. 

After  this  example  of  a  military  province  the  civil 
government  which  we  found  established  at  Tabora,  the 
direct  result  of  Herr  Dernburg's  visit,  and  only  a  year  old, 
was  a  pleasant  surprise.  Prior  to  the  change  all  except 
one  of  the  officers  were  military  men.  Now,  besides  two 
officers  and  two  sergeants  in  charge  of  200  soldiers  and 
police,  there  is  an  entirely  separate  civil  administration. 
It  consists  of  two  or  three  holding  magisterial  rank  with 
European  clerks,  a  postmaster  with  one  assistant,  and  the 
District  Commissioner. 

With  the  first  department  we  had  little  to  do,  but  it 
appeared  to  be  in  the  hands  of  capable  men  doing  their 
work  in  an  effective  and  unostentatious  manner,  and  fond 
of  their  life  and  of  travelling. 

The  postmaster  was  civility  itself,  and  transacted  our 
postal  telegraphic  business  expeditiously  and  without  fuss. 

The  District  Commissioner's  department,  though  we 
have  already  touched  upon  it,  deserves  to  be  specially 
dealt  with  as  presenting  such  a  complete  contrast  to  the 
old  miHtary  system  of  administration. 

It  consists  of  the  District  Commissioner  himself,  with 
one  European  and  one  native  clerk.  His  work  is  purely 
native,  and,  as  he  has  a  population  of  over  200,000  to 
deal  with,  it  is  obvious  that  his  office  is  at  present  very 
much  understaffed.  In  spite  of  the  unwieldy  size  of  his 
district,  he  had  studied  the  customs  and  the  languages 
of  his  people,  takes  an  interest  in  them,  and  knows  them 
well.  When  travelling  he  takes  but  two  police  with  him, 
one  to  carry  his  rifle,  the  other  to  "  boss  up  "  his  loads. 
His  method  of  dealing  direct  with  the  natives,  and  their 


loo     THROUGH  THE   HEART  OF  AFRICA 


opportunities  of  free  access  to  him,  prevent  the  abuses 
that  must  arise  in  the  system  outHned  earher  in  this 
chapter.  He  had  a  genial  but  quiet  and  dignified  way 
with  the  natives,  which  much  impressed  us.  When 
meeting  a  group  of  them  in  the  streets  of  Tabora  he 
would  exchange  a  friendly  greeting  with  them  in  their 
own  language — not  in  Ki-Swahili — and  receive  a  courteous 
greeting  in  reply.  A  military  officer,  had  we  asked  him 
some  question  about  the  local  tribes,  would  probably 
have  answered  "Oh  !  they  are  just  Sheuzis  .'"  and  surprise 
would  have  been  shown  at  our  evincing  any  interest  in 
them  ;  whereas  the  District  Commissioner  knew,  as  soon  as 
he  saw  them,  to  which  tribe  they  belonged,  and  spoke 
to  them  as  their  chief  and  their  friend.  Being,  as  we  had 
opportunities  of  learning,  just,  firm,  and  keen  on  his  work, 
it  follows  that  he  is  liked  and  respected  by  those  over 
whom  he  rules  ;  but  almost  singlehanded  as  he  is,  with  a 
population  of  nearly  a  quarter  of  a  million,  he  is  naturally 
so  overworked  that  he  never  has  time  to  get  to  the  ends 
of  his  district.  This  inadequate  staffing  will  doubtless  be 
remedied  before  the  civil  administration  is  much  older. 
As  it  is,  he  is  known  to  the  natives  as  the  Shan]-i  Bwaiia, 
because  so  much  of  his  time  is  taken  up  at  Tabora  in  the 
hearing  of  the  native  cases. 

The  Tabora  regime  is  not,  probably,  unique.  The 
civil  system  has  already  been  established  elsewhere.  At 
Mwanza,  for  instance,  though  we  had  not  the  same 
opportunities  for  judging,  it  would  appear  that  the 
Germans  are  working  there  on  the  same  sound  lines, 
and  carrying  on  an  efficient  administration  in  a  manner 
that  is  at  the  same  time  fair  to  the  natives  and  good  for 
the  country. 

A  feature  which  probably  first  impresses  most  Eng- 
lishmen in  German  territory,  just  as  its  reverse  impresses 
the  German  visitor  to  British  African  protectorates,  is  the 
inevitable  fort,  seen  at  every  Government  station,  and 
which  is  conspicuous  by  its  absence  in  places  like  Zomba, 
Livingstone,  Fort  Jameson,  Entebbe  and  Nairobi,  to  say 
nothing  of  the  smaller  and  more  isolated  stations. 


MWANZA— GERMAN  EAST  AFRICA  loi 


This,  and  the  practice  of  the  majority  of  German 
officials  of  never  travelling  without  a  big  armed  escort,  are 
proofs  of  their  fear  of  native  rebellion,  to  show  which  is 
bad  for  their  prestige. 

The  most  outstanding  feature  of  the  German  adminis- 
tration is  without  doubt  the  thorough  way  in  which  they 
investigate  and  experiment  on  the  possibilities  of  the 
territory.  The  way  in  which  they  have  fostered  and 
organised  trade  up  country  deserves  every  praise.  The 
roads  that  have  been  made  are  excellent,  and  the  manner 
in  which  they  are  pushing  on  railway  construction  calls 
for  a  good  deal  of  admiration.  Thoroughly  and  system- 
atically conducted,  it  presents  a  rather  marked  contrast 
to  the  usual  haphazard  British  methods.  The  somewhat 
rigid  systems  and  unbreakable  rules  in  force  at  their 
stations  may  strike  an  Englishman  as  a  trifle  pointless, 
but  nevertheless  in  an  administration  of  a  country  disci- 
pline and  system  are  of  the  greatest  importance,  and  pro- 
bably some  mean  between  the  German  rigidity  and  our 
own  casual  elasticity  would  produce  the  best  results. 
We  should  study  each  other's  methods,  and  choose  which 
can  be  adopted  with  profit  and  which  discarded.  The 
Germans  are  openly  and  admittedly  learning  from  us 
with  our  greater  colonial  experience.  We,  on  the  other 
hand,  need  not  think  that  we  have  nothing  to  learn  from 
them. 

Taken  all  round  the  country  was  rather  poorer,  and 
the  administration  control  over  and  relations  with  the 
natives  more  satisfactory,  than  we  had  anticipated.  There 
is  room  for  a  good  deal  of  improvement  yet,  as  there  is  in 
all  our  own  dependencies,  but  on  the  whole,  considering 
how  new  colonial  work  is  to  the  German  nation,  they 
have  every  reason  to  be  proud  of  what  they  are  doing 
in  their  East  African  Protectorate.  When  the  forts  are 
less  prominent,^  and  more  officials  mix  freely  with  the 
natives  they  govern,  get  to  know  them  and  understand 

'  "  et  errat  longe,  mea  quidem  sententia, 

Qui  imperium  credat  esse  gravius,  aut  stabilius, 
Vi  quod  fit,  quam  illud,  quod  amicitia  adjungitur." 

— Terence,  AdelpM,  i.  40. 


102     THROUGH   THE   HEART  OF  AFRICA 


them,  their  administration  should  prove  a  real  success, 
but  to  achieve  this  they  must  abolish  the  military  rule, 
take  away  from  military  officers  only  temporarily  in  the 
country  and  lacking  all  interests  in  it,  all  povirers  of 
governance,  and  leave  it  in  the  hands  of  men  who  like 
the  country  and  intend  to  devote  their  lives  to  a  colonial 
career. 

We  cannot  close  this  chapter  without  expressing  a 
hope  that  none  of  the  officials  of  German  East  Africa  will 
take  offence,  should  they  read  these  pages,  at  any  of  our 
comments  and  criticisms.  Everywhere  we  received  no- 
thing but  kindness  at  their  hands,  coupled  with  all  the 
help  that  they  could  give  us,  and  to  them  we  owe  much 
of  the  success  and  enjoyment  of  our  journey  through 
their  territory. 


VIII 


THE  VICTORIA  NYANZA  AND  THE 
UGANDA  RAILWAY 

The  S.S.  Sybil — Our  fellow-passengers — Bukoba — Baganda  canoes — 
Bukakata — Entebbe — The  raising  of  the  game  licence — Definite 
choice  of  itinerary — An  impression  of  the  beauties  of  Entebbe — 
The  police  sports — Kind  reception  and  hospitahty — The  ill-fated 
bicycle — The  Ripon  Falls — Meeting  with  Dr.  Milne — Port  Florence 
— Scenery  on  the  railway. 

The  S.S.  Sybil,  which  was  our  home  for  the  next  eight 
days,  is  the  smaller  of  the  passenger  boats,  which  with  one 
large  cargo  boat  form  the  fleet,  belonging  to  the  Uganda 
Railway,  that  plies  upon  Lake  Victoria  Nyanza.  The 
Sybil,  her  sister  ship  the  Winifred,  and  the  cargo  boat 
Nyanza  (about  800  tons),  travel  round  the  lake  at  fort- 
nightly intervals,  starting  from  Kisumu  (or  Port  Florence), 
the  head  of  the  railway,  and  occupying  about  ten  days 
in  the  journey.  The  Sybil  and  Winifred  take  it  in  turns 
to  start  in  the  southerly  and  westerly  directions.  The 
Nyanza  travels  round  as  required.  All  these  call  at  all 
the  German  and  British  ports  on  the  way.  The  Clement 
Hill  leaves  Kisumu  in  connection  with  the  mail  train,  and 
travels  direct  to  Entebbe,  calling  also  on  its  return  at 
the  two  northern  ports  of  Kampala  and  Jinja, 

The  Sybil,  like  the  rest  of  the  fleet,  is  a  smart,  well- 
built,  and  well-appointed  boat,  just  like  an  ocean  liner 
en  miniature,  and  fitted  with  every  comfort  and  con- 
venience for  tropical  travelling.  She  is  run  by  a  couple 
of  white  officers  (Capt.  TurnbuU  and  his  "  chief,"  Mr. 
Vereker)  and  three  European  engineers,  with  a  trained 
crew  of  British  East  African  natives.  We  had  been  rather 
alarmed  to  learn  from  Messrs.  Hansing  before  her  arrival 

that  every  berth  had  been  already  booked, and  that  the  whole 

103 


104    THROUGH  THE   HEART  OF  AFRICA 

ship  was  occupied  by  a  party  of  professors  and  students, 
some  seventeen  in  number,  from  German  universities,  who 
had  arrived  from  Mombasa  by  the  Uganda  Railway  and 
were  doing  a  tour  round  the  lake.  However,  the  skipper 
made  no  objection  to  our  proposal  to  camp  on  the  deck, 
and  comforted  us  by  saying  that  there  would  be  plenty 
of  food,  though  he  didn't  know  when  we  should  get  it. 

Our  fellow-passengers,  a  few  of  whom  spoke  English, 
were  most  amiable  and  interesting  people,  who  were  evi- 
dently determined  to  make  the  most  of  their  brief  visit  to 
Africa.  Some  were  entomologists,  some  botanists,  some 
biologists,  most  of  them  photographers,  and  all  keen  ob- 
servers of  everything  there  was  to  be  seen.  Every  visit  to 
a  port  of  call  was  made  the  opportunity  for  a  collection  of 
such  specimens  of  the  flora  and  fauna  and  local  curios  as 
the  neighbourhood  provided.  At  Mwanza  these  comprised 
two  large  basketfuls  of  crocodile's  eggs,  a  bleached  skull 
of  the  same  reptile,  armfuls  of  papyrus  and  other  botanical 
treasures,  and  a  fine  bag  of  rock  rabbits.  The  blowing 
of  the  first-named  provided  some  of  the  party  with  an 
innocent  occupation  for  the  next  few  days,  the  pressing 
and  preservation  of  the  second  kept  others  of  them  busy 
till  Bukoba,  while  the  energy  of  the  sportsman  responsible 
for  the  last  was  more  than  repaid  by  the  appearance,  on 
our  first  day  out,  of  broiled  hyrax  upon  the  carte  du  jour. 
They  had  not  yet  learnt  by  experience  that  a  conventional 
khaki  kit,  with  gaiters,  puttees,  or  top  boots,  is  neither  the 
most  suitable  nor  the  most  comfortable  garb  for  a  pleasure 
trip  on  a  lake  steamer  in  the  tropics,  and  we  thought  that 
they  must  have  wished  at  times  that  they  had  adopted  the 
ordinary  type  of  clothing  suited  for  European  summer 
wear. 

We  had  been  allotted  about  half  the  promenade  deck 
on  the  port  side,  and  with  our  camp  beds  up  against  the 
engine  room  hatch,  and  our  baggage  stocked  round  us  we 
felt  no  regret  at  being  crowded  out  of  the  cabins.  On 
waking  after  our  first  beautifully  cool  and  refreshing  night, 
we  heartily  congratulated  ourselves  on  the  opportunity  of 
sleeping  in  the  open  air.    Before  sailing,  two  more  "  deck 


Red,  gkeen-edged  koads. 


VICTORIA  NYANZA— UGANDA  RAILWAY  105 


passengers"  had  joined  the  ship,  and  we  left  Mwanza 
numbering  twenty-two.  Anchor  was  weighed  at  a  Uttle 
after  two  o'clock  on  Wednesday  afternoon,  and  steaming 
about  nine  knots  we  headed  for  Bukoba,  the  next  German 
port  on  the  west  shore  of  the  lake.  Owing  to  a  mis- 
adventure that  had  recently  befallen  another  of  the  boats, 
they  had  given  up  travelling  by  night,  and,  five  hours  later, 
without  altogether  losing  sight  of  land,  we  anchored  in 
about  thirty-two  fathoms  of  water  and  in  a  perfect  calm. 

A  very  fine  gramophone,  the  property  of  one  of  the 
passengers,  afforded  us  a  pleasant  entertainment  for  an 
hour  or  two  after  dinner. 

The  ship  started  again  at  four  o'clock  next  morning, 
and  though  we  managed  to  sleep  again  after  being  wakened 
by  the  engines,  we  were  eventually  obliged  to  get  out  of 
bed  a  trifle  earlier  than  we  had  had  any  intention  of  doing 
by  the  arrival  of  a  deck-swabbing  gang. 

The  glorious  sunrise,  however,  which  we  were  in 
consequence  able  to  witness,  went  a  long  way  towards 
compensating  us  for  our  broken  slumbers. 

After  about  six  hours'  steaming,  sometimes  completely 
out  of  sight  of  land,  sometimes  passing  groups  of  extra- 
ordinarily green  and  fertile  islands,  we  reached  Bukoba. 
This,  the  last  station  before  reaching  the  Uganda  frontier, 
lies  for  the  most  part  along  the  shore  of  a  small  semi- 
circular bay  perhaps  three  miles  long.  From  the  lake 
side  it  is  distinctly  picturesque,  backed  by  clif?s  of  white 
rock  picked  out  with  vivid  green  that  gave  the  landscape 
quite  an  English  touch.  The  direction  of  the  strata  in  the 
face  of  the  cliffs  had  a  curiously  terracing  effect  in  places. 
The  more  gradual  slopes  were  clothed  with  rich  vegetation, 
and  with  fine  trees  occasionally  rising  from  between  bare 
boulders.  The  grass  was  as  green  as  in  an  English 
meadow,  the  consequence  of  a  rainfall  much  more  con- 
stant than  in  the  southern  parts  of  the  territory. 

We  went  ashore  in  the  afternoon  in  the  captain's  gig, 
and  on  landing  we  found  the  streets  and  lower  slopes 
thickly  planted  with  avenues  and  copses  of  eucalyptus, 
cotton  trees,  and  other  tropical  timber,  all  grown  to  a  fine 


io6     THROUGH  THE   HEART  OF  AFRICA 


maturity.  What  surprised  us  as  much  as  anything  was  the 
short,  thick,  green  grass  which,  right  down  to  the  water's 
edge,  confirmed  the  impression  formed  from  a  distance. 
Walking  through  one  of  the  avenues  we  struck  inland, 
passed  through  some  fertile  native  and  European  gardens 
(where  we  came  across  a  damsel  wearing  a  good  example 
of  the  short  grass  skirt  which  is  thefashion  among  the  Baziba 
natives  of  this  locality),  over  a  broad  and  full  stream  the 
existence  of  which  we  had  not  suspected,  then  by  a  road 
skirting  the  native  village,  where,  in  the  elaborate  compound 
of  the  chief's  hut  (locally  known  as  the  "  Sultan's  palace  "), 
we  heard  and  saw  a  somewhat  advanced  type  of  native  band 
consisting  largely  of  cow-horns,  which  was  suggestive  of  a 
colossal  hurdy-gurdy  running  "  amok  "  ;  and  so  round  and 
back  through  the  market  place  to  the  wireless  telegraphy 
station  on  the  beach,  which  we  found  in  a  much  more  ad- 
vanced state  of  construction  than  that  at  Mwanza.  Then 
back  along  the  front  to  the  wharf,  passing  the  "  boma  " 
square,  at  the  top  of  which  the  Commandant  was  en- 
tertaining the  German  travellers,  and  the  fort,  which  was 
less  aggressively  and  more  roughly  and  rustically  built  than 
any  we  had  seen.  After  taking  a  few  photographs  in  the 
waning  light,  we  returned  to  the  ship,  passing,  by  the  way, 
some  exceptionally  fine  examples  of  the  Baganda  canoes, 
which  are  built  of  strips  of  bark  sewn  together  and  fur- 
nished with  a  false  prow  for  breaking  the  force  of  the 
waves. 

Our  next  stop  was  across  the  Uganda  frontier,  at 
Bukakata,  formerly  a  Government  station.  This  had  been 
abandoned  owing  to  the  presence  of  Sleeping  Sickness 
and  Glossina  palpalis,  and  a  new  post  established  twenty 
miles  inland.  The  site  is  now  only  marked  by  a  few 
storage  sheds  and  a  small  landing-pier,  but  the  place  is 
still  retained  as  a  port  for  the  embarkation  of  goods  from 
the  interior.  We  took  on  a  quantity  of  cotton  ^  for  trans- 
mission to  Kampala,  where  it  was  to  be  ginned,  besides  a 

1  This  cotton  was  entirely  native  grown,  the  seed  (Egyptian)  having  been 
imported  and  distributed  gratis  by  the  Uganda  Government,  when  under  the 
governorship  of  Mr.  (now  Sir)  Hesketh  Bell. 


VICTORIA  NYANZA— UGANDA  RAILWAY  107 


large  number  of  bales  of  hides  and  skins.  A  considerable 
amount  of  ground  nuts,  rice,  and  hides  had  been  taken  on 
at  Mwanza  and  Bukoba,  and  at  first  it  looked  as  if  the 
latter  part  of  the  Bukakata  cargo  would  have  to  be  left 
behind.  Our  camping  space  was  a  good  deal  restricted  in 
consequence,  but  we  gathered  that  we  were  rather  fortu- 
nate to  have  any  left  at  all,  as  on  some  of  her  voyages 
the  Sybil  at  this  point  had  her  decks  piled  up  to  the 
awnings. 

Anchoring  once  more  on  the  way,  we  eventually 
reached  Entebbe  in  the  cool  of  the  early  hours  of  Satur- 
day, October  i,  after  an  exciting  race  with  the  s.s.  Nyanza, 
arriving  from  the  opposite  direction,  for  the  best  berth 
alongside  the  pier. 

Entebbe,  the  seat  ^  of  the  Government  of  the  Uganda 
Protectorate,  is  charmingly  situated  on  a  small  promontory 
in  the  north-west  corner  of  the  lake,  some  twenty  miles 
west  of  Mengo  or  Kampala,  the  ancient  capital  of  the 
Baganda  kings,  and  now  the  residence  of  Daudi,  the  youth- 
ful holder  of  the  title. 

Seen  first  from  one  side  and  then  the  other  as  we 
rounded  the  point  of  the  headland  on  which  it  stands,  it 
struck  us  as  one  of  the  most  beautiful  places  we  had  seen. 

We  obtained  some  glorious  views  from  the  deck  of  the 
steamer  of  its  houses,  half  hidden  in  park-like  scenery, 
mingling  all  the  colour  of  its  tropical  vegetation  with  the 
bright  refreshing  green  of  its  lawns  and  avenues  ;  the  warm 
red  of  its  roofs  and  of  its  winding  roads  in  complete 
harmony  with  the  colour  scheme,  giving  promise  of  rare 
beauty,  which  on  a  closer  view  was  more  than  justified. 
We  went  on  shore  at  nine  o'clock,  and  chartering  a  con- 
venient rickshaw  drove  up  to  the  town,  which  lies  half  a 
mile  or  so  from  the  pier,  calling  first  at  the  post-office  to 
get  our  mails,  which  had  been  accumulating  there  for  three 
months.  Having  secured  our  letters,  and  having  arranged 
for  the  transfer  of  the  bulkier  articles  to  the  steamer,  we 
proceeded  to  the  Government  Offices  to  call  upon  the 


1  This  is  literally  the  meaning  of  the  word  Entebbe  (or  Ntebe),  which  is  the 
Luganda  for  seat  or  chair. 


io8    THROUGH  THE  HEART  OF  AFRICA 


Acting  Chief  Secretary,  Mr.  Alison  Russell,  whom  one  of 
us  could  claim  as  a  school-fellow,  and  who  was  expecting  us. 

Up  to  this  point  we  had  been  undecided  as  to  the 
further  stages  of  our  itinerary.  The  news  that  we  had 
received  at  Mwanza  of  the  increase  of  the  ;^5o  sports- 
man's licence  by  an  additional  ^^30  for  permission  to 
shoot  two  elephants  (;^io  for  the  f^rst,  £20  for  the  second, 
the  latter  sum  being  recoverable  in  case  of  only  one  ele- 
phant being  killed)  had  made  us  consider  whether  we 
would  modify  our  original  idea  of  going  right  through 
to  Egypt  via  Gondokoro,  and  proceed  instead  by  the 
Uganda  Railway  to  Mombasa.  It  was  with  the  greatest 
reluctance  that  we  had  considered  the  possible  necessity 
of  abandoning  the  north  trip,  and  it  was  with  considerable 
relief  that  we  found,  after  talking  with  Mr.  Russell,  Mr. 
A.  C.  Knollys  his  assistant,  and  Colonel  Wyndham  the 
Governor's  A.D.C.,  that  we  had,  while  still  unconscious 
of  having  made  up  our  minds,  committed  ourselves  to 
going  through.  We  had  been  looking  forward  to  the 
elephant-hunting  as  one  of  the  attractions  of  a  trip 
through  Uganda,  but  it  was  hardly  going  to  be  worth 
while  taking  out  two  licences  at  the  exorbitant  sum  of 
^80  apiece,  unless  there  was  a  fair  prospect  of  securing 
exceptionally  big  tuskers.  It  was  naturally  at  Entebbe 
that  we  made  our  first  inquiries,  and  when  we  learnt  not 
only  that  we  might  expect,  with  luck,  to  get  perhaps  an 
average  of  two  eighty-pounders  each,  but  also  that,  if  we 
wished  to  give  ourselves  the  best  chance,  we  should  try 
in  the  northern  parts,  on  reaching  which  we  should 
already  be  well  on  our  way  to  Gondokoro,  we  came  to  the 
conclusion  that,  after  all,  there  was  no  reason  why  we 
should  depart  from  our  original  plans.  We  were  soon 
engaged  in  fixing  up  details.  This  was  a  comparatively 
easy  business,  helped,  as  we  were,  by  every  official  with 
whom  we  came  in  contact. 

A  few  days  would,  of  course,  be  required  to  make 
arrangements  for  the  trip  through  Uganda,  and  we 
decided  to  employ  the  interval  in  seeing  as  much  as  we 
could  of  the  East  African  Protectorate.    We  each  of  us 


VICTORIA  NYANZA— UGANDA  RAILWAY  109 


had  two  or  three  old  friends  whom  we  hoped  we  might 
run  across,  and  in  any  case  a  journey  of  two  or  three 
days  on  the  Uganda  Railway,  with  a  stay  of  a  few  days 
here  and  there,  afforded  an  opportunity  of  seeing  the 
country  which  was  not  to  be  missed.  We  decided  to  go 
straight  on  to  Kisumu  by  the  Sybil,  travel  down  the  line 
as  far  as  Nairobi,  possibly  breaking  our  journey  for  a  short 
visit  or  two  on  the  way,  and  come  back  by  the  train  that 
would  land  us  in  Uganda  again  seventeen  days  later. 

In  an  almost  incredibly  short  time  we  had  arranged 
to  take  most  of  our  kit  off  the  Sybil  and  stock  it  in  the 
Customs  shed,  leave  all  but  two  of  our  Rhodesian  natives 
at  Entebbe  under  the  protection  of  the  District  Com- 
missioner, and  to  engage  one  of  the  Government  motor 
waggons  to  take  us  and  all  our  equipment  as  far  as 
Mubendi  on  our  return  to  Entebbe. 

These  points  settled,  we  went  back  to  the  steamer  to 
advise  our  staff  as  to  our  plans,  and  then  returned  for 
the  second  time  to  the  town  to  lunch  with  Mr.  Russell 
at  his  house.  Driving  in  a  rickshaw  up  the  red,  green- 
edged  roads,  we  admired  at  every  turn  the  beauties  of  the 
place,  but  the  climax  was  reached  when  we  arrived  at 
our  host's  residence. 

The  house  stands  on  a  little  cape  with  the  blue  and 
silver  waters  of  the  lake  on  three  sides  of  the  grounds, 
which,  starting  with  a  fine  terrace  in  front  of  the  broad 
verandah,  consist  of  grassy  lawns  bright  with  many- 
coloured  shrubs  and  gay  flower  beds,  and  shaded  by 
magnificent  trees.  The  approach  lies  through  the  two 
finest  drives  we  have  seen  in  Africa,  one  on  either  side, 
which  but  for  their  wealth  of  colour  might  have  been  in 
an  old  English  park  ;  and  the  porchway  of  the  house 
and  a  large  part  of  the  roof  is  wreathed  in  the  green  and 
magenta  of  a  superb  bougainvillea.  The  position  would 
make  a  poor  place  into  a  paradise,  but  the  combination  of 
this  glorious  garden  and  the  unique  situation  form  a  sight 
that  can  never  be  forgotten.  Whether  the  bright  African 
sun  is  bringing  out  to  the  full  the  rich  colours  in  the 
grounds,  or  whether  the  fitful  gleams  of  the  rising  moon 


no     THROUGH  THE   HEART  OF  AFRICA 


upon  the  silver  waters  of  the  lake  are  seen  through  the 
trees,  it  seems  like  a  veritable  fairyland.  After  lunching 
on  the  cool  verandah  with  such  a  view  around  us,  we 
felt  a  keen  sense  of  regret  at  having  to  return  to  the  boat 
to  excavate  our  baggage,  though  it  was  modified  by  an 
invitation  not  only  to  return  to  dinner,  but  to  make  it  our 
home  on  our  return  from  Nairobi. 

A  couple  of  strenuous  hours  saw  our  superfluous  kit 
and  servants  disposed  of,  and  we  returned  once  more 
to  the  town  to  witness  the  Police  Sports,  which  were 
taking  place  in  the  presence  of  his  Excellency  the  Acting 
Governor  and  Mrs.  Tomkins,  and  of  practically  every  man, 
woman,  and  child  in  Entebbe. 

The  show  was  excellently  managed,  and  presented  a 
gay  and  animated  spectacle  ;  the  whole  breathing  a  typi- 
cally English  atmosphere  that  was  refreshing  to  us  after 
several  weeks  in  a  protectorate  which,  though  friendly, 
had  been  indisputably  foreign.  After  an  adjournment  to 
the  hospitable  Club,  and  then  another  descent  to  the 
steamer  to  wash  and  dress,  we  returned  yet  again  to  the 
Chief  Secretary's  house,  where  an  excellent  dinner,  fol- 
lowed by  music,  ended  what  will  always  be  remembered 
by  both  of  us  as  one  of  the  most  enjoyable,  as  it  was 
one  of  the  most  strenuous  days  of  our  lives.  It  was  just 
after  midnight  when  we  found  ourselves  once  more  on 
the  deck  of  the  Sybil,  and  turned  in  for  a  good  night's 
rest.  Sonorous  murmurs  from  the  lower  deck  told  that 
our  German  friends  had  already  yielded  to  the  exhaustion 
of  a  day  of  systematic  sight-seeing  on  shore. 

If  ever  travellers  had  their  paths  made  smooth  for 
them  we  had — and  we  owe  a  debt  of  gratitude  not  easily 
expressed  in  words  to  every  one  at  Entebbe  who  helped 
us.  All  that  could  be  done  in  the  capital  itself  and  every- 
thing it  was  possible  to  arrange  by  telephone  and  letter— 
the  motor  journey,  carriers  at  the  end  of  it,  guides, 
hunters,  information  as  to  elephants  and  food  supplies, 
&c. — was  done  voluntarily,  and  with  a  readiness  to  help 
that  could  not  be  excelled. 

The  one  discordant  note  in  the  harmony  was  sounded 


VICTORIA  NYANZA— UGANDA  RAILWAY  iii 


by  the  ill-fated  bicycle  that  had  gone  wrong  near  Aber- 
corn.  The  new  internal  mechanism  that  had  then  been 
cabled  for  had  arrived,  but,  although  the  number  and 
specification  of  the  bicycle  had  been  quoted  in  the  cable, 
the  mechanism  sent  was  of  a  different  model,  and  would 
not  fit  the  machine.  The  third  engineer  in  the  Sybil 
did  what  he  could,  but  he  had  not  the  apparatus  necessary 
for  tackling  case-hardened  steel,  and  we  were  obliged 
to  take  the  cycle  and  the  parts  to  Nairobi  in  the  hope  of 
getting  it  fixed  up  there. 

At  five  o'clock  the  following  morning  we  steamed  out 
of  Entebbe  Harbour  and  reached  Kampala  Port,  which  is 
connected  by  mono-rail  with  Kampala,  at  8  A.M.,  but  made 
only  a  very  short  halt.  Our  course  lay  through  a  beauti- 
ful part  of  the  lake,  studded  with  gorgeous  and  fertile 
little  islands,  and  it  is  easy  to  imagine  the  chagrin  of  the 
inhabitants  when  the  ravages  of  Sleeping  Sickness  necessi- 
tated their  removal  to  inland  spots  free  from  Glossma 
palpalis.  Threading  our  way  through  these  ill-fated  beauty- 
spots  we  reached  Jinja  in  the  afternoon,  and  went  on 
shore  at  once  to  visit  the  Ripon  Falls.  It  is  at  this  point 
that  the  Nile  leaves  the  Victoria  Nyanza,  and  the  cataracts 
(for  they  are  little  more)  are  one  of  the  finest  sights  on 
the  lake.  To  any  one  who  expects  to  see  real  falls,  such 
as  the  Victoria  Falls  in  the  Zambezi,  or  the  Murchison 
Falls  lower  down  the  Nile,  they  would  be,  of  course,  a 
disappointment,  but  the  sight  of  the  great  river  pouring 
out  of  the  lake  cannot  but  impress  even  the  least  impres- 
sionable visitor  ;  and  we,  who  were  about  to  follow  the 
Nile  to  its  mouth,  lingered  long  at  its  birthplace,  where 
some  of  the  local  residents  were  busy  with  rod  and  line 
catching  a  fish  resembling  a  chub,  which  runs  on  an 
average  to  5  or  6  lbs.  and  gives  good  sport.  Walking 
back  in  the  lurid  light  of  a  stormy  sunset,  a  bush  fire 
began  to  show  up,  winding  its  snaky  path  of  flame  along 
the  face  of  the  hills  across  the  bay,  and  as  darkness  fell  the 
flickering  fire,  lightening  the  outer  darkness  and  reflected 
in  the  water  below,  added  yet  one  more  to  the  surfeit 
of  spectacles  that  was  becoming  almost  bewildering. 


112    THROUGH  THE   HEART  OF  AFRICA 


At  Jinja,  which  is  the  starting-point  of  the  Jinja- 
Kakindu  Railway,  the  latest  link  in  the  Cape-to-Cairo  line 

of  communications,  we  took  on  board  one  or  two  pas- 
sengers. One  of  these.  Dr.  Milne,  the  Principal  Medical 
Officer  of  British  East  Africa,  was  destined  to  prove, 
thanks  to  his  kindness  and  hospitality,  which  must  be  un- 
equalled even  in  tropical  Africa,  one  of  the  most  notable 
factors  in  the  success  and  enjoyment  of  our  visit  to  the 
Protectorate.  The  morning  on  which  we  left  Jinja  we 
met  him,  as  he  shared  the  privilege  allowed  us  by  the 
chief  officer  of  shaving  in  his  cabin,  and  after  breakfast 
we  were  soon  engrossed  in  conversation  with  him  about 
Sleeping  Sickness,  malaria,  spirillum,  and  other  tropical 
diseases,  which  were  of  interest  to  us  as  well  as  to  him  ; 
and  the  fact  that  he  knew  several  friends  of  ours  in  East 
Africa  helped  us  to  forget  that  we  had  met  for  the  first 
time  that  day.  We  were  sorry  to  learn  that  one  of  these 
friends,  whom  we  had  hoped  to  visit  at  Eldama  Ravine, 
reputed  to  be  the  most  beautiful  station  in  the  East  Africa 
Protectorate,  had  been  moved  to  a  more  northerly  station 
near  Lake  Rudolph  ;  but,  as  things  turned  out,  it  was 
perhaps  all  for  the  best,  as  in  the  limited  time  that  our 
fast-ebbing  leave  allowed  us,  it  is  doubtful  if  our  stay  in 
this  flourishing  dependency  could  have  been  arranged  in 
a  more  pleasant  and  instructive  manner  than  that  in  which 
we  spent  it.  Moreover,  these  sudden  changes  in  our 
plans,  and  the  readiness  with  which  we  adopted  the 
kaleidoscopic  alterations  in  our  itinerary,  added  a  peculiar 
charm  to  the  journey  that  would  have  been  entirely  lack- 
ing had  everything  been  cut  and  dried  and  in  accordance 
with  pre-conceived  arrangements.  It  is  not  only  advisable 
but  necessary  to  map  out  a  journey  such  as  ours  before- 
hand, but  it  is  really  no  less  important  to  be  able  to 
depart  from  one's  plans  at  a  moment's  notice,  as  other- 
wise one  loses  half  the  charm  of  travel,  and  frets  about 
the  dislocation  of  the  schedule. 

Nightfall  found  us  at  Homa  Bay  and  firmly  aground 
in  the  muddy  bottom  of  the  lake.  It  was  quite  an  hour 
before  we  got  off,  but  it  did  not  worry  us  in  the  least ;  we 


VICTORIA  NYANZA— UGANDA  RAILWAY  113 


had  another  sunset  on  which  to  feast  our  eyes,  and  there 
was  no  train  to  catch  at  Port  Florence,  for  the  boat  was 
so  late  that  the  ordinary  train  had  been  missed  quite  com- 
fortably, and,  with  such  a  full  tale  of  passengers,  a  "  special  " 
was  a  foregone  conclusion.  At  half-past  two  on  the 
following  afternoon  our  skipper  brought  us  up  in  a  masterly 
manner  at  the  wharf  of  the  terminus  of  the  Uganda  Rail- 
way, and  we  began  to  realise  what  a  stroke  of  fortune  it 
was  for  us  to  have  met  Dr.  Milne.  He  promptly  secured 
us  a  reserved  compartment  adjoining  that  engaged  for 
himself  and  another  member  of  the  medical  staff,  and 
then  took  us  for  a  stroll  to  the  market-place,  which  affords 
one  of  the  most  striking  contrasts  between  civilised  and 
savage  Africa  that  can  be  imagined.  On  the  one  side  the 
well-built  township,  the  railway  station  with  its  well- 
appointed  trains,  the  wharf  and  jetties,  alongside  of  which 
are  berthed  the  fine  lake  steamers,  and  on  the  other,  at  a 
distance  of  only  a  few  minutes'  stroll,  this  market-place, 
where  the  unspoilt  Wa-Kavirondo  in  a  state  of  entire 
nudity  sell  and  buy  the  necessities  of  life — for  a  people  to 
whom  clothes  in  any  form  are  anathema  needs  but  few 
luxuries.  The  two  Rhodesian  natives  who  were  with  us 
were  more  impressed  by  the  unashamed  nakedness  of 
these  people  than  by  anything  that  they  had  seen  up  till 
then.  At  the  end  of  our  stroll  we  wended  our  way  to  the 
house  of  the  Provincial  Commissioner — to  whom  the 
doctor  had  introduced  us — for  tea,  and  spent  an  interest- 
ing hour  with  him  discussing  the  conditions  of  service 
and  of  life  prevalent  in  his  country  and  in  ours,  after 
which  we  had  a  second  tea  with  Captain  TurnbuU  of  the 
Sybil  and  his  wife.  A  halt  for  billiards  at  the  Club 
preceded  a  final  dinner  on  the  boat,  immediately  after 
which  we  boarded  the  train,  and,  sharing  Dr.  Milne's  roomy 
compartment  till  ten  o'clock,  we  returned  to  our  own 
quarters  and  turned  in,  regretting  that  we  had  to  miss 
some  of  the  finest  scenery  on  the  line  during  the  dark 
hours  of  night. 

We  awoke  while  passing  through  fine  agricultural 
highlands,  and  at  6.30  passed  the  magnificent  estate 

H 


114    THROUGH  THE   HEART  OF  AFRICA 


belonging  to  Lord  Delamere,  on  which  we  saw  wheat, 
maize,  and  black  wattle,  all  flourishing  in  the  fertile  soil 
and  fostered  by  the  abundant  rainfall  and  sunshine  ;  as 
well  as  many  herds  of  half-bred  cattle  and  sheep.  The 
wild  fauna  were  also  conspicuous,  the  graceful  Thompson's 
gazelle  (  "  Tommies  "  )  being  the  most  numerous,  though 
there  were  also  plenty  of  zebra,  Coke's  hartebeeste.  Grant's 
gazelle  and  ostrich,  and  once  or  twice  we  saw  some  jackals 
slinking  across  the  plains.  An  excellent  breakfast  (at  Rs. 
1.50  a  head)  was  served  at  Nakuru  Station  Hotel,  and  we 
got  a  good  view  of  this  pretty  mountain  lake,  the  utility 
of  which  is  marred  by  the  brackishness  of  its  water. 
Between  this  point  and  Naivasha,  where  we  lunched  (at 
Rs.2  each),  there  was  a  good  deal  of  similarity  in  the 
landscape,  but  it  was  all  good  to  look  upon,  only  un- 
fortunately Lake  Naivasha  itself  was  largely  obscured  by 
clouds,  which  while  adding  considerable  charm  to  the 
landscape,  prevented  us  from  getting  a  good  view  of  the 
picturesque  panorama. 

After  lunch  the  scenery  changed  as  we  passed  through 
the  great  Rift  Valley  and  on  to  Escarpment  Station  on  the 
far  side.  We  here  encountered  for  the  first  time  natives 
of  the  Kikuyu,  Nandi,  and  Masai  tribes,  and  were  much 
struck  by  their  graceful  bearing  and  cheerful  appearance. 
The  former  especially  appeared  to  us  the  most  accomplished 
loafers  we  had  met,  an  impression  that  was  fully  confirmed 
latter  on.  On  rising  out  of  the  Rift  Valley  we  obtained 
but  a  poor  view  of  this  remarkable  depression,  but  even 
when  wreathed  in  mist  and  swept  by  rain-storms  it  has  a 
grandeur  that  is  all  its  own,  and  we  could  well  realise 
that  there  are  many  w^ho  never  tire  of  looking  at  this 
wonderful  landmark  on  the  world's  surface,  that  changes 
with  every  phase  of  storm  and  sunshine.  On  these  slopes, 
where  the  railway  meanders  along  in  a  way  that  is  a 
triumph  of  modern  engineering,  no  gradient  now  being 
more  than  i  in  50,  there  are  magnificent  juniper  forests, 
which  are,  unfortunately,  being  rapidly  destroyed  for  rail- 
way purposes,  as  coal  is  not  employed  on  the  line,  as  well 
as  being  cut  for  timber  ;  and  no  effort  whatever  is  made 


Pho'o  by       r.  Ly.iror.1.  .\,iuv/>t 

The  Uganda  Railway. 
(Note  the  curve  that  the  train  has  just  passed.) 


VICTORIA  NYANZA— UGANDA  RAILWAY  115 


to  replant  them — a  policy  the  folly  of  which  will  be  realised 
when  it  is,  perhaps,  too  late. 

Twilight  found  us  rattling  along  at  a  good  pace  as  we 
descended  towards  the  Athi  Plains,  and  soon  after  darkness 
had  overtaken  us — the  train  was  not  lighted,  but  luckily 
Dr.  Milne  had  two  lanterns — we  saw  what  we  took  to  be 
a  bush  fire  in  the  east.  It  was,  however,  no  bush  fire,  but 
the  glow  in  the  sky  caused  by  the  electric  lights  that  are 
such  a  prominent  feature  of  that  mushroom  city  of  the 
plains — Nairobi. 


IX 


BRITISH  EAST  AFRICA 

Nairobi — The  derelict  bicycle  is  repaired — Visits  to  dentist,  photo- 
grapher, and  other  business — Journey  to  Punda  Milia  by  motor — 
View  of  Mount  Kenia — Attack  of  fever — A  sisal  farm — Sport — 
Return  to  Nairobi — Hospitality  of  the  residents — The  race-meeting 
— Lottery  night  at  the  Club — Meeting  with  Wawemba  soldiers — 
Return  to  Port  Florence — Impressions  of  the  country  and  of  the 
natives — Prospects  for  intending  settlers. 

When  passing  through  the  suburbs  the  extent  of  Nairobi 
by  electric  Hght  seemed  simply  appalling,  but  this  was 
owing  to  its  straggling  nature  and  not  to  its  actual  size — 
for  the  European  population  is  but  800 — and  we  were 
not  surprised  to  learn  that  it  boasts  of  no  less  than  42 
miles  of  electrically  lighted  streets.  At  eight  o'clock  the 
train  drew  up  at  the  platform,  and  we  were  glad  that  we 
had  wired  to  the  Norfolk  Hotel  to  announce  our  arrival, 
as  otherwise,  being  a  special  train,  no  conveyances  could 
have  been  expected.  Leaving  our  baggage  in  the  hands 
of  the  hotel  porter,  we  proceeded  to  walk  up  to  the 
Norfolk,  where  we  soon  settled  down,  having  secured 
accommodation  for  ourselves,  our  servants,  and  our  dogs. 

Nairobi  is  a  settlement  that  has  barely  a  decade  behind 
it,  and  is  placed  on  the  edge  of  a  bare,  treeless  flat,  but 
relieved  from  what  would  have  been  the  deadly  monotony 
of  the  site,  like  its  greater  sister  Johannesburg,  by  the 
eucalyptus  trees  that  the  first  settlers  fortunately  intro- 
duced, and  which  have  since  been  steadily  added  to.  It 
has  grown  out  of  what  was  originally  a  railway  depot, 
and  the  choice  of  site  was  due  to  the  fact  that  it  was  the 
last  level  stretch  up  the  line,  and  therefore  eminently 
suitable  for  concentration  of  railway  stock  ;  though  why 

it  should  have  been  chosen  as  the  capital  of  the  country 

116 


Government  House. 


Front  View. 


BRITISH  EAST  AFRICA 


117 


when  more  suitable  and  attractive  sites  are  abundant  at  quite 
a  short  distance  along  the  railway  no  one  seems  to  know. 

The  railway  at  this  point  roughly  bisects  the  town,  at 
the  south  end  of  which  lies  the  railway  station  and  work- 
shops from  which  Nairobi  may  be  said  to  have  sprung. 
East  of  the  line  lies  all  the  commercial  quarter,  the  Indian 
bazaar,  and  most  of  the  Government  offices,  and  also  the 
picturesque  native  hospital,  a  little  beyond  which  lies  the 
Norfolk  Hotel.  The  road  in  which  these  buildings  stand 
is  called  Government  Road,  from  the  fact  that  it  contains 
in  it  the  offices  in  which  the  Provincial  Commissioner, 
District  Commissioner,  and  other  important  officials  work. 
At  first  we  refused  to  believe  that  the  row  of  ancient 
tin  hutches  which  composed  these  offices  provides  accom- 
modation for  any  Government  officials  in  a  town  that 
could  show  amongst  others  such  fine  stone  buildings  as 
the  Treasury,  Post  Office,  and  Government  House.  Start- 
ing as  one  of  the  principal  streets  of  the  town,  this  road 
becomes  a  fine  avenue  at  the  point  where  these  Govern- 
ment offices  decorate  it,  and  ends  up  as  the  Thika  Road, 
in  which  form  it  is  the  principal  artery  of  the  fast-growing 
suburb  of  Parklands. 

Between  it  and  the  railway,  to  which  it  is  more  or  less 
parallel,  lie  the  Episcopal,  Catholic,  and  then  incompleted 
Presbyterian  churches,  and  the  Post  Office  and  Treasury, 
all  of  which  show  what  can  be  achieved  in  the  way  of 
architecture  with  the  local  limestone.  In  the  extreme 
south-east  lies  the  race-course. 

On  the  west  of  the  line  is  the  suburb  known  as  The 
Hill.  Here  is  Government  House,  an  imposing  building 
which  is  probably  very  comfortable  though  it  is  not  in 
keeping  with  the  rest  of  the  town,  the  Club,  the  European 
hospital,  and  most  of  the  officials'  residences,  as  well  as  the 
Governor's  office  and  the  Secretariat.  At  the  top  of  the 
hill  lie  the  polo  and  cricket  grounds,  golf-links  and  tennis- 
courts,  and  near  to  them  the  barracks  of  two  battalions  of 
the  King's  African  Rifies. 

Among  the  residents  of  Nairobi  were  two  friends  whom 
we  had  been  hoping  to  meet,  Dr.  Ross,  the  Government 


ii8    THROUGH  THE   HEART  OF  AFRICA 


Bacteriologist,  a  cousin  of  one  of  us  (Cholmeley),  and  Mr. 
Montgomery,  the  veterinary  pathologist,  who  had  worked 
for  some  time  in  North-Eastern  Rhodesia  and  was  known  to 
both  of  us.  Thanks  to  them  and  to  Dr.  Milne  we  made 
the  acquaintance  of  many  of  the  officials  and  other  re- 
sidents in  the  town,  and  spent  some  pleasant  and  instructive 
hours  in  their  company.  To  the  last-named  we  owe,  too, 
the  rectification  of  the  error  of  the  cycle  company  which 
had  sent  out  a  mechanism  that  did  not  fit  the  disabled 
bicycle. 

On  his  introduction,  Mr.  Gallagher,  engineer  in  charge 
of  the  Uganda  Railway  workshops,  not  only  showed  us 
over  the  whole  of  his  works,  but  allowed  his  staff  to 
undertake  the  task  of  fixing  up  the  machine.  It  took 
a  day  and  a  half  to  achieve,  and  at  one  time  certainly 
was  occupying  no  less  than  three  separate  lathes,  so  we 
had  reason  to  be  thankful  that  we  were  able  to  command 
the  services  of  probably  one  of  the  most  advanced  work- 
shops in  Africa.  It  was  equipped  with  plant  for  the 
manufacture  of  practically  the  whole  rolling  stock  of  the 
system,  and  was,  at  the  time  of  our  visit,  engaged  in  the 
building  of  some  passenger  coaches  of  a  new  type. 

Our  two  native  servants,  who  were  allowed  to  go  over 
the  works  one  afternoon,  looked  as  if  they  were  going  to 
be  permanently  open-mouthed  with  wonder  at  the  white 
man's  magic,  and  one  of  them,  Kasonde,  who  eventually 
travelled  through  to  England,  bore  ofif  a  prize  in  the  shape 
of  a  fragment  of  |-inch  steel  plate,  which  had  been  espe- 
cially cut  and  punched  for  him,  which  he  will  probably 
treasure  to  the  end  of  his  days,  unless  he  spends  it  on  the 
purchase  of  a  new  wife. 

Amongst  other  attractions  of  which  Nairobi  boasted 
was,  we  were  told,  an  efficient  dentist.  Both  of  us  were 
in  need  of  this  kind  of  torturer — one  generally  is  after 
four  or  five  years  in  Central  Africa — and,  though  rather 
doubting  the  rumour,  took  the  first  opportunity  of  putting 
it  to  the  test.  It  is  only  fair  to  say  that  our  scepticism 
was  not  justified,  and  that  our  troubles  were  dealt  with  in 
a  manner  which  afforded  us  considerable  relief. 


Nairobi  Races. 


The  Grand  Stand. 


BRITISH   EAST  AFRICA 


119 


The  development  of  the  photographs  which  we  had 
been  taking  consistently  since  leaving  Rhodesia  was  another 
bit  of  business  that  had  to  be  attended  to.  Photography 
was  not  the  main  object  of  our  journey,  and,  after  thinking 
over  the  matter,  we  had  decided  at  the  beginning  of  it  not 
to  develop  our  photographs  en  route.  As  we  only  wanted 
the  pictures  as  a  record  of  what  we  saw,  and  remembering 
the  fact  that  our  camp  would  hardly  ever  be  two  nights  in 
the  same  place,  and  that  the  quantity  and  temperature  of 
the  water  would  often  render  development  a  difficult  pro- 
cess, we  refrained  from  attempting  it.  We  had  exposed 
over  two  hundred  films  and  about  fifty  plates,  and  were 
glad  to  seize  the  opportunity  afforded  by  a  visit  to  civili- 
sation to  get  them  developed.  This  was  most  satisfactorily 
done  by  the  local  photographer,  who  took  a  keen  interest 
in  the  work,  and  handled  our  materials  with  the  greatest 
care. 

It  was  abundantly  evident  that  time  was  not  going 
to  hang  heavy  on  our  hands  at  Nairobi.  We  had  a  little 
shopping  to  do  and,  as  for  the  leisure  we  had  left  our- 
selves, people  seemed  laying  themselves  out  to  give  us 
a  good  time.  In  no  place  in  the  world,  perhaps,  does 
a  man  find  his  kindred  spirits  so  quickly,  or  meet  with 
such  a  cheering  welcome,  as  in  the  capitals  and  centres  of 
our  oversea  dependencies,  and  it  was  a  great  delight  to 
meet,  not  only  with  such  a  hospitable  welcome,  but  with 
a  willingness  to  answer  our  catechisms  which  was  as  great 
as  our  thirst  for  knowledge. 

It  was  very  tempting  under  the  circumstances  to 
remain  at  Nairobi,  but  with  over  a  fortnight  to  fill  in, 
we  felt  we  must  try  and  get  an  opportunity  of  seeing 
something  of  the  country  outside,  and  possibly  of  securing 
some  of  the  common  varieties  of  game  that  were  new 
to  us,  such  as  Thompson's  and  Grant's  gazelle,  Jackson's 
and  Coke's  hartebeeste. 

Hardly  had  we  begun  to  think  of  ways  and  means 
when,  by  a  stroke  of  luck,  the  thing  arranged  itself.  Mr. 
A.  B.  Percival,  the  acting  game  ranger,  had  informed  us 
that  if,  as  was  possible,  we  could  obtain  permission  to 


I20    THROUGH  THE  HEART  OF  AFRICA 


shoot  in  one  of  the  estates  in  the  neighbourhood,  the 
possession  of  a  licence  would  entitle  us  to  hunt  practi- 
cally anything,  except  elephant  and  ostrich,  for  a  period  of 
one  month. 

We  had  hardly  had  time  thoroughly  to  digest  his  in- 
formation when  we  met  Mr.  Rutherfoord,  of  Swift  and 
Rutherfoord,  the  owners  of  a  sisal  farm  some  47 
miles  from  Nairobi,  He  and  his  partner  would  be  de- 
lighted, he  said,  if  we  would  come  out  and  spend  a  few 
days  at  the  farm  and  shoot  whatever  we  wanted.  As 
it  was  but  6  miles  from  the  main  road  to  Fort  Hall, 
to  which  place  a  regular  motor-van  service  was  running, 
the  matter  of  transport  presented  no  great  difficulties. 
The  return  journey  had  to  be  arranged  for,  as  the  next 
visit  of  the  van  would  be  too  late  for  us,  but  the  engage- 
ment of  a  few  carriers  to  take  our  baggage  from  the 
motor  road  to  the  farm  was  arranged  by  telegraph  with 
the  District  Commissioner,  Fort  Hall,  and  the  same  gang 
would  be  able  to  carry  it  back  to  Nairobi  at  the  end 
of  our  visit,  while  we  ourselves  came  in  on  bicycles.  Our 
beds  we  had  left  at  Port  Florence,  the  rest  of  our  outfit 
and  our  weapons  at  Entebbe,  but  Dr.  Milne  once  more 
came  to  our  rescue  and  provided  us  with  everything  we 
wanted,  in  the  way  of  a  tent,  beds,  and  camp  and  kitchen 
equipment,  a  rifle  and  some  ammunition,  for  a  few  days 
in  the  bush.  A  second  rifle  and  a  couple  of  native  hunters 
were  obtained  without  difficulty  from  the  Boma  Trading 
Company,  the  same  firm  that  was  responsible  for  the 
Fort  Hall  motor  service. 

Everything  so  far  had  been  going  so  smoothly,  that 
we  were  not  altogether  surprised  when  at  the  last  moment 
the  whole  programme  was  nearly  wrecked  by  a  fiasco. 
The  van  was  to  start  at  six  o'clock  on  Sunday  morning, 
9th  October  ;  it  was  arranged  that  it  should  call  for  us 
at  the  Norfolk  Hotel  on  its  way  out,  and  as  we  were  given 
to  understand  that  we  were  to  be  the  only  occupants,  we 
got  our  baggage,  bicycles,  and  boys  ready,  and  proceeded 
to  await  it  without  anxiety. 

It  was  with  something  approaching  a  shock,  therefore, 


BRITISH  EAST  AFRICA 


12  1 


that,  a  few  minutes  past  six,  we  saw  the  thing  thunder  by 
like  an  inspired  Juggernaut,  only  giving  us  time  to  notice 
that  it  seemed  to  be  full  to  the  brim  of  baggage  and 
densely  populated  with  passengers  to  boot.  The  hotel 
management  realised  the  situation  quicker  than  we  did  ; 
a  nigger  on  a  bicycle  shot  out  of  the  front  gate  like  a 
torpedo,  and  gave  such  effective  chase  that  he  succeeded 
in  catching  the  elusive  vehicle  just  as  it  was  slowing  up 
on  a  curve  not  more  than  half  a  mile  away.  It  couldn't 
turn  round,  we  heard  (and  wouldn't,  doubtless,  if  it  could), 
so  we  piled  our  baggage  on  to  a  couple  of  rickshaws  and 
lost  no  time  in  picking  up  its  spoor.  When  we  came 
up  with  it,  we  found  that  our  passing  impressions  had 
been  more  or  less  correct.  There  were  two  other 
European  passengers  on  the  front  seat  with  the  driver, 
and  there  were  ten  natives  and  Indians  on  the  top  of 
a  pile  of  baggage  that  looked  the  absolute  limit.  It  was 
not  encouraging,  but  it  was  absurd  to  give  it  up. 

The  task  of  piling  Pelion  on  Ossa  was  once  more 
tackled,  and,  impossible  as  it  seemed,  baggage,  boys,  and 
bicycles  were  eventually  stacked  more  or  less  precariously 
on  the  top,  while  we  squeezed  our  dogs  and  ourselves 
in  front,  and  with  a  jolt  and  a  buzz  we  were  on  our 
way.  The  road  went  up  and  down,  but  was  mostly 
quite  good,  our  worst  enemy  being  occasional  patches 
of  sand.  We  sometimes  reached  a  speed  of  eighteen  or 
twenty  miles  an  hour,  and,  with  a  cargo  of  which  the 
foundation  was  six  8oo-lb.  casks  of  tar,  we  were  weighing 
between  seven  and  eight  tons.  On  the  whole  it  was  more 
comfortable  than  it  looked  ;  the  extra  weight,  over  powerful 
springs,  made  it  fairly  smooth  going,  and  we  glided  over 
many  a  little  gutter  or  bump  as  if  it  had  not  been  there. 

We  crossed  numerous  small  streams  on  well-built 
timber  bridges,  of  which  a  few  were  in  process  of  being 
replaced  by  stone  structures.  Some  looked  a  bit  flimsy 
and  some  were  definitely  labelled  under  repair,  but  all 
proved  equal  to  us.  The  way  in  which  we  rattled  over  the 
latter  in  spite  of  notices  bearing  the  legend  "  This  bridge 

IS  CLOSED  FOR  REPAIRS,"  Or  "  THIS  BRIDGE  IS  DANGEROUS," 


122    THROUGH   THE   HEART  OF  AFRICA 


the  warning  red  flag  being  either  ignored  or  calmly  re- 
moved by  a  native  who  had  dismounted  for  the  purpose, 
was  an  undeniably  stimulating  experience. 

After  going  30  miles  we  reached  the  Thika  River 
at  about  midday,  and  lunched  at  the  Blue  Post  Hotel. 
This  consists  of  one  semi-open  oblong  house,  containing 
dining-room  and  bar,  and  a  few  round  bedroom  huts, 
all  very  neatly  built  of  grass  and  reeds.  The  camp 
stands  between  two  fine  streams,  the  Thika  and  the 
Chamia,  which  meet  a  few  hundred  yards  behind  it,  and 
on  each  side  of  which  is  quite  a  notable  waterfall,  the 
two  being  hardly  a  quarter  of  a  mile  apart. 

One  of  our  fellow-passengers  was  a  settler  of  some 
years'  standing,  who,  besides  owning  an  estate  some  way  up 
the  line,  which  he  had  successfully  farmed  for  some  years, 
had  recently  invested  in  a  large  area  near  Mile  35  on  the 
Fort  Hall  Road,  which  he  was  devoting  to  the  cultivation 
of  wheat.  He  was  optimistic  and  even  enthusiastic  about 
the  prospects  of  British  East  Africa  as  a  wheat-growing 
country,  and  already  had  a  large  acreage  under  the  plough, 
which  he  was  going  to  sow  at  the  beginning  of  the  next 
rains.  He  had  an  additional  interest  in  the  country  in 
the  shape  of  an  ox  transport  service  which  was  growing 
rapidly.  His  oxen,  fortunately,  were  all  immune  from  the 
comparatively  new  cattle  disease  of  gastro-enteritis,  which 
had  been  causing  much  anxiety  and  expense  to  both  the 
settlers  and  the  administration. 

At  a  quarter  to  four,  shortly  after  dropping  him  at 
his  farm,  the  car  drew  up  by  some  grass  sheds,  and  we 
dismounted,  leaving  all  our  kit  except  our  blankets  and 
rifles  in  the  care  of  the  natives  in  charge,  and  cycled  on 
by  a  fairly  good  waggon  track  to  Punda  Milia,  a  distance 
of  6  miles  ;  passing  the  estate  of  Sisal  Limited  en  ivute 
and  getting  a  glimpse  of  Mount  Kenia  in  the  distance. 
One  of  us  (Cholmeley)  was  suffering  from  an  attack  of 
fever  which  had  been  growing  more  acute  as  the  day 
advanced,  and  which  confined  him  to  bed  throughout  our 
stay  on  the  farm,  so  that  the  account  of  what  was  done 
there  has  to  be  in  the  first  person  singular.    We  were 


BRITISH   EAST  AFRICA 


123 


warmly  welcomed  by  Messrs,  Swift  and  Rutherfoord,  and 
the  latter  kindly  gave  up  his  room  and  his  bed  to 
Cholmeley,  who  turned  in  immediately  on  our  arrival. 
After  dinner  we  chatted  for  an  hour  or  two  about  the 
prospects  in  British  East  Africa  and  Rhodesia,  the  pro- 
blems of  native  labour,  and  kindred  matters,  and  went  to 
bed  at  ten  o'clock. 

Cholmeley  passed  a  fair  night,  but  was  not  fit  to  leave 
his  bed  in  the  morning,  so  I  went  out  alone  for  a  shoot. 
The  country  was  quite  open,  consisting  of  bare  plains 
and  hills,  and  the  game  was  extraordinarily  wild.  The 
moment  I  appeared  on  the  hillside  every  animal  within 
sight  began  to  bolt.  After  a  little  manoeuvring  I  suc- 
ceeded in  approaching  to  within  200  yards  of  a  Koiigoni 
bull  (Coke's  hartebeeste),  and  my  first  shot  found  his  heart. 
This  was  a  promising  beginning,  and  I  hoped  I  might 
secure  one  or  two  good  trophies,  for  I  saw  plenty  of 
hartebeeste,  zebra,  and  "Tommies"  about,  besides  one 
herd  of  eland,  and  a  solitary  roan.  Of  these  the  only 
beasts  that  appealed  to  me  were  hartebeeste  and 
"  Tommies  "  as  I  had  shot  plenty  of  the  others  elsewhere. 
However,  I  had  no  luck,  for  I  failed  to  get  within  shooting 
distance  of  a  single  "  Tommy."  I  had  a  couple  more 
shots  at  hartebeeste,  but  missed  each  time,  and  returned 
to  the  farm  at  about  three  o'clock.  My  tent  was  pitched 
by  this  time,  and  I  moved  into  it. 

Dr.  Pritchard  of  Fort  Hall,  who  was  en  route  for 
Nairobi,  arrived  at  sundown.  We  hoped  that  it  would  be 
possible  to  ride  as  far  as  the  Thika  River  the  next  day  to 
catch  the  motor-car  there,  but  in  the  morning  Cholmeley 
was  still  unable  to  travel,  and  Mr.  Swift,  who  was  cycling 
in  to  Nairobi,  promised  to  have  a  mule  cart  sent  to  the 
Thererika  Bridge  to  meet  us  on  the  following  day  in  case 
he  should  be  strong  enough  to  cycle  that  far.  I  walked 
out  to  inspect  the  sisal  crops,  and  was  much  impressed  by 
the  large  area  devoted  to  it,  and  by  the  splendid  way  the 
farm — which  is  the  oldest  sisal  farm  in  the  Protectorate — 
was  managed.  Sisal  is  grown  for  its  fibre,  and  resembles 
a  large  pineapple  plant.    It  is  propagated  by  suckers 


124    THROUGH  THE   HEART  OF  AFRICA 


and  "  bulbils,"  and  the  first  leaves  can  be  cut  about  the 
third  year,  and  cutting  continues  for  three  more,  after  / 
which  it  "  poles,"  like  the  aloe  to  which  it  is  akin,  and 
then  dies.  A  good  deal  of  machinery  is  required  for 
decorticating  the  fibre,  but  at  the  present  price  (about 
£2?)  per  ton)  it  appears  to  be  a  profitable  undertaking. 
When  first  planted,  beans  are  grown  between  the  plants 
as  a  catchcrop.  The  beans  are  issued  to  natives  living 
on  the  farm,  who  plant  them  and  sell  the  produce  to  the 
farmer  at  a  fixed  rate.  The  natives  have  the  advantage 
of  using  ground  already  ploughed  and  prepared,  while 
the  farmer  not  only  gets  a  good  profit  on  the  beans, 
which  he  exports,  but  their  cultivation  keeps  the  sisal 
ground  free  from  weeds. 

At  three  o'clock  I  went  out  to  have  another  try  for  a 
"  Tommy,"  but  though  I  saw  many,  and  spent  three  hours 
carefully  stalking  them,  I  failed  to  get  within  range.  On 
my  return  I  found  Cholmeley's  temperature  had  not 
dropped  appreciably,  and  began  to  doubt  if  we  should  be 
able  to  leave  the  next  day,  but  nevertheless  I  got  up  at 
half-past  five,  packed  up  the  tent  and  my  belongings,  and 
then  went  round  to  look  at  him.  1  found  his  temperature 
had  dropped  to  below  normal,  and  he  was  very  weak. 
However,  he  declared  himself  able  to  travel,  and  rose  at 
seven  o'clock.  Accompanied  by  a  young  pupil  from  the 
farm  who  rode  my  bicycle,  while  Cholmeley  rode  a  mule 
lent  by  our  hosts,  who  from  start  to  finish  had  been  kind- 
ness personified,  I  mounted  his  bicycle,  and  we  kept 
together,  so  that  he  could  change  to  the  machine  when 
tired  of  the  mule.  It  was  a  trying  journey  for  a  sick  man, 
and  though  he  rode  the  machine  down  hill  and  on  the 
flat,  and  the  mule  up  hill,  he  was  utterly  exhausted  by  the 
time  we  reached  the  "  Blue  Post."  After  a  short  halt 
there  he  felt  strong  enough  to  continue  the  ride  to  the 
Thererika  Bridge,  which  we  reached  at  three  o'clock, 
though  I  doubt  if  he  could  have  ridden  any  farther.  Here 
we  not  only  found  the  Cape  cart  and  four  mules  awaiting 
us,  but  luckily  Mr.  Ward,  the  foreman  in  charge  of  the 
repair  work,  proved  to  be  a  true  Samaritan,  and  though 


TWO-VEAR  SlSAL  AT  PUNUA  MiLlA. 


BRITISH   EAST  AFRICA  125 

too  busy  to  look  after  us  in  person,  invited  us  to  rest  in  his 
tent,  where  his  boys  brought  us  tea,  whisky,  food,  cigars, 
and  everything  that  they  could  think  of,  and,  moreover, 
lent  me  a  warm  overcoat  for  Cholmeley,  and  a  flask  of 
whisky,  in  case  Cholmeley  should  feel  the  cold  when 
darkness  fell.  At  four  o'clock  our  two  boys,  who  had 
followed  on  foot  from  the  farm,  turned  up,  and  we  started 
off  in  the  cart  for  Nairobi.  It  was  shockingly  bumpy,  and 
the  road,  which  had  seemed  so  good  from  the  seat  of  a 
heavy  motor  van,  appeared  in  a  far  less  favourable  light  to 
travellers  in  a  Cape  cart  in  which  the  springs  were  worse 
than  none.  The  mules,  too,  shied  at  all  the  white  posts 
that  marked  the  causeways  through  the  papyrus  swamps, 
but  in  spite  of  it  all  we  reached  Ali  Khan's  mews  in  three 
hours  and  forty  minutes,  a  fairly  creditable  rate  for  23 
miles  considering  the  conditions. 

At  the  mews  we  found  a  telephone  message  informing 
us  that  we  were  to  go  straight  to  Dr.  Milne's  and  not  to  the 
hotel,  so  transferring  our  weary  bodies  to  a  waggonette, 
we  drove  up  to  the  Hill,  where  the  Doctor  made  us  very 
welcome,  though  I  soon  realised  that  he  had  had  nothing 
to  do  with  the  invitation  !  However,  he  insisted  on  my 
staying  and  sharing  his  room,  all  his  others  being  full,  and 
Cholmeley  went  on  to  Dr.  Ross's  house.  Not  only  did  I 
get  a  bed,  but  I  was  provided  with  everything  else,  from  a 
particularly  welcome  bath  to  some  dress  clothes,  and  taken 
out  to  dinner,  finally  returning  to  rest  at  midnight,  very 
tired  after  46  miles  trying  travelling,  and  being  on  the  go 
for  over  nineteen  hours.  I  rose  fairly  refreshed  at  seven, 
but  in  spite  of  repeated  telephone  messages  failed  to  get 
any  clothes  up  from  the  hotel  till  8.45,  and  as  those  in 
which  I  had  returned  from  Punda  Milia  were  caked  with 
the  red  dust  of  the  road,  owing  to  a  sudden  descent  I  had 
made  over  the  mule's  head,  I  had  to  remain  undressed 
till  nine  o'clock,  when  I  went  over  to  see  Cholmeley,  who 
was  none  the  worse  for  his  exertions,  and  quite  con- 
valescent. 

Having  paid  off  our  carriers,  who  arrived  at  ten,  and 
having  had  our  baggage  removed  from  the  hotel  to  Dr. 


126    THROUGH  THE   HEART  OF  AFRICA 


Milne's  and  Dr.  Ross's  respectively,  we  lunched  at  the 
latter's  house,  and  then  went  down  with  him  in  his  motor 
to  the  races. 

Race  meetings,  of  which  there  are  three  or  four  in  the 
year,  form  a  notable  feature  of  life  in  East  Africa,  for  as 
the  meetings  of  various  associations  are  frequently  arranged 
to  coincide,  they  afford  a  good  opportunity  for  the  settlers 
and  others  from  outlying  parts  to  meet  ;  and,  besides 
forming  an  agreeable  interlude  in  their  lives,  enable  them 
to  discuss  amongst  themselves,  and  with  the  residents  at 
the  capital,  the  different  problems  that  mutually  concern 
them.  These  race  meetings  are  held  on  Thursday  and 
Saturday,  the  preceding  nights  being  devoted  to  lotteries, 
while  a  fancy  dress  ball  or  other  entertainment  often 
follows  on  the  Monday  or  Tuesday  of  the  following  week. 
On  the  course  we  found  a  fair  number  of  people,  including 
Sir  Percy  Girouard,  the  Governor,  who  had  just  returned 
from  safari}  The  King's  African  Rifles,  whose  band  played 
a  selection  of  popular  airs  between  the  races,  had  a  re- 
freshment tent  and  dispensed  tea  and  drinks.  Here  we 
met  E.  S.  Grogan, — a  contemporary  of  Cholmeley's  at 
Cambridge, — who  has  a  big  stake  in  the  country,  and  were 
interested  in  talking  to  him  not  only  about  the  prospects 
for  settlers  in  the  Protectorate,  but  also  about  such  parts 
of  our  route  as  coincided  with  his  own  traverse  of  the 
continent  in  1898. 

Heavy  rain  fell  just  after  the  last  event  on  the  card,  so 
we  sheltered  in  the  hospitable  tent  of  the  King's  African 
Rifies  till  the  storm  subsided,  when  we  motored  back  to 
the  Club,  prior  to  dining  at  Dr.  Ross's. 

The  Club,  which  is  the  centre  of  Nairobi  life,  is  a  fairly 
good,  though,  for  Nairobi,  rather  an  old  building  ;  it  con- 
tains reading  and  card-rooms,  besides  a  fine  billiard-room 
— with  two  tables — round  the  walls  of  which  are  several 
splendid  shooting  trophies,  notably  one  of  the  few  exist- 
ing specimens  of  the  rare  bongo. 

The  following  morning  was  chiefly  occupied  with 


I  The  word  is  here  used  to  signify  "a  journey."  It  is  also  used  to  denote  the 
caravan,  and  everything  pertaining  to  it. 


BRITISH   EAST  AFRICA 


shopping.  Our  train  for  Port  Florence  was  to  leave  on 
Saturday  at  noon,  and  the  last  twenty-four  hours  in 
Nairobi  were  brimful  of  entertainment  that  was  as  varie- 
gated as  it  was  amusing. 

We  began  with  a  sumptuous  lunch,  with  about  a  score 
of  fellow-guests,  on  the  airy  verandah  of  the  Norfolk 
Hotel.  It  had  originally  been  Dr.  Milne's  lunch,  but  by 
the  time  we  arrived  the  "  hostship "  had,  by  some 
mysterious  process,  got  changed,  and  we  found  ourselves 
the  guests  of  Dr.  Chevalier,  another  member  of  the 
medical  staff  of  the  country. 

Business  of  various  kinds  occupied  the  afternoon  till 
four  o'clock,  when  we  drove  up  in  Dr.  Ross's  car  to  pay 
our  respects  at  Government  House.  We  then  enjoyed  a 
short  spin  along  the  roads  by  the  King's  African  Rifles 
Camp  and  the  western  suburbs  of  the  town,  during  which 
we  got  a  glimpse  of  the  lower  slopes  of  Kilimanjaro — 
90  miles  away — and  though  the  car  achieved  a  puncture, 
we  got  back  just  before  dark. 

The  evening  at  the  Club  which  followed  vividly  re- 
minded us  that  it  was  race-week,  which  means,  ipso  facto, 
that  Nairobi  is  very  much  en  fete.  A  sumptuous  dinner 
at  which,  with  a  score  of  others,  we  were  the  guests  of  M. 
Argyropoulos,  was  followed  by  the  serious  and  protracted 
business  of  selling  by  auction  the  sweepstake  tickets  for 
the  next  day's  races. 

This  satisfactorily  completed,  a  short  interval  for  rest 
and  refreshment  was  succeeded  by  a  little  wholesome 
exercise  in  the  shape  of  billiard  fives  and  billiard  hockey. 
If  any  of  our  readers  happens  not  to  be  acquainted  with 
either  of  these  pastimes,  and  is  finding  that  the  orthodox 
methods  of  using  a  billiard  table  begin  to  pall  upon  him, 
we  recommend  him  to  try  billiard  fives  and  billiard 
hockey,  but  preferably  on  some  one  else's  table,  and  not 
at  all  if  he  suffers  from  tender  hands. 

If  there  were  not  actually  several  of  our  fellow-players 
wearing  their  hands  in  slings  and  their  ribs  in  plaster  of 
Paris  next  day,  we  wager  that  there  were  a  few  who  wished 
they  had  been. 


128    THROUGH   THE   HEART  OF  AFRICA 


Supper  shortly  followed,  a  meal  at  which  there  were 
some  three  times  as  many  guests  as  had  sat  down  to 
dinner,  and  at  which,  we  noted  with  admiration,  the  only 
beverage  served  was  lager  beer.  Supper  and  a  few  com- 
plimentary speeches  and  replies  disposed  of,  at  about 
midnight  the  company  adjourned  to  the  card-room,  which 
was  also  the  music-room,  and  had  been  cleared  for  action, 
and  enlivened  the  next  hour  or  two  with  a  variety,  choral, 
and  terpsichorean  entertainment.  Some  of  the  items  were 
premeditated,  some  were  not.  Amongst  the  former  the 
most  notable  were  the  topical  songs,  written  for  the 
occasion,  which  dealt  in  a  spirit  of  playful  badinage  with 
the  political  problems  as  well  as  the  characteristics  and 
achievements  of  the  local  celebrities. 

Among  the  latter  were  the  Cake-walks  and  Apache 
dancing,  and  a  completely  novel  equestrian  turn.  Ordinary 
methods  of  applause  were  quite  inadequate  to  express  the 
enthusiastic  appreciation  of  the  dancers'  efforts,  and  the 
audience  were  obliged  to  have  recourse  to  beating  a 
vigorous  tattoo  with  their  heels  upon  the  doors,  which 
resulted  in  the  latter  being  rather  short  of  panels  at  the 
end  of  the  performance. 

In  the  circus  act,  which  was  the  last  item  on  the  card, 
the  venue  changed  from  the  concert  to  the  billiard-room. 
A  horse,  that  had  been  found  patiently  awaiting  his  owner 
at  the  Club  gates,  was  skilfully  ridden  by  two  of  the  com- 
pany twice  round  the  tables  and  up  to  the  bar,  at  which 
it  was  prevailed  upon  to  partake  of  a  little  much-needed 
refreshment  in  the  shape  of  a  small  bottle  of  lager  beer. 

After  a  consomme  de  partir  in  the  shape  of  a  round  of 
prairie  oysters,  we  dispersed  to  our  homes  at  2.30  A.M.,  and 
had  to  be  content  with  about  three  and  a  half  hours'  sleep, 
for  we  had  an  interesting  engagement  before  breakfast. 

One  of  the  companies  of  the  2nd  Battalion  of  the 
King's  African  Rifles  (the  so-called  Yao  Battalion)  was,  we 
found,  entirely  composed  of  Wawemba  recruited  from 
Northern  Rhodesia.  Three  or  four  of  them  had  learnt  of 
our  arrival  and  had  already  called  upon  us,  and  we  had 
promised  to  pay  their  barracks  a  visit  with  the  object  of 


BRITISH   EAST  AFRICA 


129 


seeing  them  all  on  early  parade.  It  was  something  of  an 
effort,  but  we  had  to  be  up  early  in  any  case,  to  be  sure  of 
getting  through  various  little  jobs  in  time  to  catch  our 
train,  and  we  did  not  want  to  disappoint  them  or  ourselves, 
with  Kasonde  and  Kakakota,  who,  of  course,  had  found 
numerous  "  brothers  "  and  "  fathers  "  amongst  them.  We 
reached  the  parade  ground  just  in  time  to  see  them  before 
they  were  marched  off  to  fatigue  duty  at  the  race-course, 
and,  after  a  few  minutes'  chat  also  visited  their  lines, 
where  we  were  entrusted  with  numerous  messages  to  their 
kindred  in  Rhodesia  from  their  wives  and  families.  They 
seemed  without  exception  to  be  thoroughly  enjoying  their 
life  and  duties,  and  had  nothing  to  complain  of  except 
that  they  had  been  left  behind  at  headquarters  while  some 
of  their  comrades  were  out  north  on  "  active  service  "  of 
sorts.  The  population  of  British  East  Africa,  they  said,  was 
getting  too  tame,  and  there  wasn't  enough  war  to  go 
round. 

The  rest  of  the  morning  was  occupied  in  repacking, 
executing  a  few  final  commissions  in  the  town,  and  con- 
veying ourselves  and  our  baggage  to  the  station.  Owing 
to  the  eccentric  interpretation  of  his  orders  by  a  coolie 
employe  of  the  local  job-master,  we  as  nearly  as  possible 
finished  up  by  missing  our  train,  but  eventually,  with  the 
assistance  of  a  heaven-sent  rickshaw,  just  succeeded  in 
catching  it  by  the  skin  of  our  teeth.  The  station  was 
crowded  with  travellers  of  all  sorts  and  colours,  who,  like 
ourselves,  seemed  to  be  afflicted  with  the  bustle  and  con- 
fusion of  having  left  everything  to  the  last  minute,  and 
but  for  the  timely  assistance  of  Drs.  Milne  and  Ross,  who 
had  come  to  see  us  off,  we — who  by  this  time  were  prob- 
ably more  out  of  our  element  on  a  railway  station  than 
any  of  our  fellow-passengers — should  almost  certainly 
have  been  left  behind. 

We  had  a  few  minutes  awful  anxiety  at  Naivasha.  One 
of  our  two  boys,  who  had  left  the  train  and  trekked  into 
the  interior  to  buy  food  at  a  store  somewhere  near  the 
horizon,  was  nowhere  to  be  seen  when  we  were  on  the 
point  of  moving  off.    The  engine  driver  gave  us  a  minute's 

I 


130    THROUGH  THE  HEART  OF  AFRICA 


grace  and  an  extra  long  blast  on  his  whistle,  and  to  our 
relief  the  boy  turned  up  in  the  nick  of  time,  just  when  we 
were  seriously  debating  whether  it  would  be  better  simply 
to  leave  him  behind  or  for  one  of  us  to  stop  behind  too. 
He  had  not,  unfortunately,  realised  that  anything  that  we 
"were  travelling  in,  even  if  it  were  a  train,  did  not  neces- 
sarily belong  to  us,  or  was  not  entirely  under  our  control. 

The  rest  of  the  journey  was  uneventful,  and  we  reached 
Port  Florence  at  eight  o'clock  on  the  following  morning. 
What  we  had  seen  of  the  Protectorate  had  far  from  dis- 
appointed us.  Having  heard,  as  one  mostly  does,  of  the 
principal  feature  of  the  country  being  its  huge  open  plains, 
the  valleys  and  escarpments  and  the  tropical  wealth  of 
vegetation  in  the  highlands  came  as  a  magnificent  surprise. 
The  highlands  generally,  though  much  greener  and  fresher, 
owing  to  the  greater  rainfall,  are  vividly  reminiscent  of 
the  high  veld  of  South  Africa.  The  scenery  through  which 
the  train  passes  before  descending  into  the  Rift  Valley, 
with  its  glimpses  of  Nakuru  and  Naivasha  Lakes,  and  the 
majestic  profile  of  the  extinct  volcano  and  its  sister  peaks 
throwing  their  purple  shadows  across  the  plains  below  us, 
far  surpassed  anything  we  had  seen  in  Africa,  not  exclud- 
ing the  Hex  River  mountain  pass  in  the  Cape  Colony. 
That  of  the  Mau  escarpment,  on  the  first  stage  after  leaving 
the  lake,  is  held  to  be  quite  as  fine,  though  we  unfor- 
tunately passed  through  it  at  night-time. 

The  plains,  though  dotted  with  game  as  far  as  the  eye 
could  see,  and  evidently  magnificent  both  for  stock-raising 
and  agriculture,  did  not  at  first  impress  us  much  more 
than  any  other  practically  treeless  country,  but  it  was  not 
long  before  we  began  to  realise  that,  though  presenting 
a  marked  contrast  to  the  woodlands  of  Northern  Rhodesia, 
it  was  a  type  of  landscape  that  would,  in  a  very  short 
time,  grow  upon  one  more,  perhaps,  than  a  less  open  land- 
scape ever  can. 

In  considering  the  prospects  of  the  territory  it  must 
be  borne  in  mind  that  it  falls  into  two  parts  that  are  quite 
distinct  from  each  other  ;  the  low-lying  tropical  coast- 
belt,  including  the  fertile  province  of  Juba-land,  which  is 


BRITISH   EAST  AFRICA 


mainly  devoted  to  plantations,  consisting  of  Ceara  rubber, 
cocoanuts,  and  sea-island  cotton  with  many  catchcrops 
such  as  maize,  sim-sim,^  and  ground  nuts  ;  and  the  more 
temperate  highlands,  chiefly  occupied  by  agricultural 
farmers  and  ranchers. 

Our  observations  were  confined  to  the  latter,  as  we 
were  unable  to  find  time  to  travel  farther  than  Nairobi, 
East  of  which  point  the  plantation  area  begins.  The 
highland  farming  community  must,  moreover,  be  divided 
into  three  groups,  those  who  confine  themselves  entirely 
to  agriculture,  those  combining  agriculture  with  stock- 
raising,  and  finally  those  whose  energies  are  restricted  to 
the  latter. 

The  principal  crops  cultivated  by  the  first-named  are 
sisal,  wheat,  and  black  wattle,  the  first  of  which  we  have 
already  described.  Wheat-growing  has  taken  its  place 
more  recently  as  one  of  the  principal  industries  of  the 
Protectorate,  and  the  view  taken  of  its  possibilities  by 
those  who  have  invested  their  money  in  it  can  only  be 
described  as  enthusiastic.  Such  diseases  as  have  so  far 
attacked  the  crops  have  been  mastered,  and  with  a  fertile 
soil  and  climatic  conditions  that  permit  of  two  crops  a 
year,  and  an  average  yield  of  about  20  bushels  per  acre, 
the  outlook  is  certainly  most  promising.  We  were  in- 
formed that  the  area  under  wheat  is  increasing  by  leaps  and 
bounds,  and  that  on  some  estates  as  much  as  700  acres 
can  be  seen  in  an  unbroken  block,  so  that  its  cultivation 
is  already  well  beyond  the  experimental  stage. 

The  cultivation  of  black  wattle  is  also  carried  on  on  a 
large  scale,  and  is  reputed  to  be  very  profitable.  The  tree 
can  be  stripped  of  its  bark  in  the  sixth  year,  and  catchcrops, 
especially  maize,  can  be  grown  during  the  first  three 
years.  There  is  apparently  some  difficulty  about  drying 
it  by  natural  means  owing  to  the  climate,  which  adds 
considerably  to  the  cost  of  production,  but  this  need  not 
deter  the  farmer,  as  wattle  has  many  uses  besides  its 
tanning  bark — which  is  worth  about  a  ton  on  the 
farm. 


A  plant  which  is  grown  for  its  oil. 


132    THROUGH  THE   HEART  OF  AFRICA 


The  land  along  the  railway  and  near  the  Nairobi- 
Fort  Hall  Road,  where  a  branch  line  is  in  course  of  con- 
struction, is  all  taken  up,  but  fresh  tracts  are  continually 
being  opened  as  the  demand  increases  ;  the  Uasin  Gishu, 
Nandi  Gishu,  and  part  of  the  Kenia  District  are  being 
rapidly  occupied,  and  when  these  areas  are  taken  up  more 
will  be  opened  for  settlement.  It  is  in  these  less  accessible 
areas  that  stock-raising  appeals  to  the  settler,  since  live- 
stock can  go  on  its  own  legs  to  the  railway  instead  of 
having  to  be  carried.  It  must  not  be  inferred,  however, 
that  there  are  no  cattle  ranches  or  sheep,  pig,  and  ostrich 
runs  on  the  line,  as  some  of  the  most  important  stock 
farms — as,  for  instance.  Lord  Delamere's  estates  in  the 
Njoro  District,  which  are  mixed,  and  E.  S.  Grogan's  sheep 
runs  at  Naivasha — are  right  on  the  line.  Owing  to  the 
different  nature  of  the  grazing  required,  cattle  and  sheep 
are  not  to  be  found  in  close  proximity.  Ostrich  farming 
forms  a  not  inconsiderable  branch  of  stock-raising,  and 
with  careful  selection  is  proving  a  profitable  industry. 
Lucerne,  which  is  useful  for  ostriches  as  for  pigs  (which 
also  thrive  on  bananas),  grows  well,  and  can  be  cut  four 
times  a  year. 

We  gathered  that  for  a  young  man  coming  out  to  farm 
a  capital  of  about  ^^1200  is  considered  advisable,  and  that 
the  wisest  course  is  for  him  to  start  as  a  pupil  on  an 
established  farm,  taking  up  meanwhile  a  tract  of  land  for 
which  he  pays,  but  on  which  he  need  not  immediately 
fulfil  the  development  conditions.  Labour  is  fairly  cheap, 
natives  being  obtainable  at  Rs.3  to  Rs.q  a  month,  but  the 
necessity  for  some  kind  of  Labour  Bureau  seems  to  be 
beginning  to  be  felt,  as  competition  between  the  farmers, 
and  more  especially  between  the  planters  and  the  farmers, 
is  driving  up  the  rate  of  wages. 

The  Uganda  Railway  has  at  the  present  more  exports 
than  imports,  and  the  former  are  increasing  steadily, 
especially  from  Uganda  and  the  lake,  which  results  in  a 
steady  fall  in  the  rates,  even  now  quite  moderate  for  most 
of  the  main  crops.  The  German  railway  will  probably  hit 
the  import  trade  hard,  as  we  have  pointed  out  elsewhere, 


BRITISH   EAST  AFRICA 


133 


but  it  will  hardly  touch  the  export  traffic.  There  seems 
to  be  no  doubt  that  the  country  has  a  bright  future  in 
store.  Farms  of  1000  acres  purchased  six  to  ten  years 
ago  for  £66  (Rs.500)  are  now  worth  ^^looo,  and  land  is 
steadily  increasing  in  value,  the  usual  price  in  a  newly- 
opened  district  being  now  Rs.2  per  acre.  The  class  of 
settler  is  distinctly  above  the  average,  and  the  Protectorate 
seems  to  offer  more  to  men  of  the  public  school  type  than 
Canada  or  Australia,  where  mere  manual  labour  is  princi- 
pally in  demand.  No  one  afraid  of  work  should  go  to 
British  East  Africa,  but  what  is  wanted  most  is  essentially 
the  man  that  can  make  a  good  overseer  and  manager : 
one  who,  while  working  himself,  can  manage  and  direct 
others,  especially  natives  ;  and  this  is  the  very  type  that 
our  public  schools,  whatever  their  faults  may  be,  produce. 

It  is  a  well-favoured  country,  and  amply  justifies  the 
construction  of  the  great  railway  from  the  coast  to  the 
lake.  With  its  plantation  area  near  the  coast,  its  enor- 
mous tracts  in  the  highlands  suitable  for  farming  and 
ranching,  and  with  Uganda  producing  cotton,  cocoa,  coffee, 
and  rubber  in  the  interior,  the  railway  should  within  a 
reasonable  time  pay  interest  on  its  capital  as  well  as  paying 
its  way.  It  has  simply  created  the  country  as  it  now  is, 
and  has  lifted  it  from  savagery  and  slavery  into  a  fairly 
well-populated  agricultural  dependency. 

The  natives  were  some  of  them  the  most  interesting 
we  had  come  across,  and  we  should  much  have  liked  to 
know  more  of  them.  The  Wa-Kavirondo  we  saw  at  Port 
Florence  and  Kibos,  the  next  station  to  the  Port,  at  which 
were  a  dozen  or  so  of  both  sexes  in  their  "  national 
costume  "  of  nothing  at  all,  were  principally  striking  for 
their  lack  of  shyness  or  false  modesty.  Of  the  Masai  we 
saw  but  few,  but  were  impressed  by  their  graceful  carriage 
and  independent  air. 

Of  the  Wakikuyu  we  saw  most,  in  and  round  Nairobi 
itself.  Their  costume  consists  of  a  single  blanket  or  skin 
hung  from  one  shoulder  across  the  body,  and  little  else, 
except  red  paint  and  ornaments.  One  of  the  things  that 
delighted  us  was  the  manner  in  which  they  stroll  about 


134    THROUGH  THE   HEART  OF  AFRICA 

Nairobi  without  the  slightest  ambition  to  af¥ect  a  more 
elaborate  attire,  and  the  fact  that  the  Government  has  not 
attempted  to  coerce  them.  Their  ear  ornaments  are  re- 
markable, often  five  or  six  to  each  ear,  and  their  red 
paint  gives  them  quite  an  artistic  appearance.  As  workers 
they  are  obviously  a  failure  at  present.  The  glimpse  of 
their  efforts  as  displayed  at  the  Thererika  Bridge  only  con- 
firmed the  impression  made  by  each  and  every  one  of  them 
as  he  strolled  through  the  streets  of  the  town.  They  are 
elegant  and  artistic  loafers.  Their  women  are  an  excep- 
tion ;  they  seem  to  do  more  carrying  than  the  men  ;  they 
carry  their  loads  in  the  small  of  the  back,  supported  by 
means  of  a  skin  band  passed  round  the  forehead,  instead 
of  balancing  them  on  their  heads.  Occasionally  a  child 
is  seen  straddling  its  mother's  back,  and  perched  on  the 
top  of  the  load,  and  not  infrequently  the  Wakikuyu  women 
are  seen  at  a  run. 

The  towns  also  contain  a  large  trading  population  of 
Indians,  and  coast  natives  of  Arab  extraction.  They 
seemed  to  be  a  decent  and  law-abiding,  if  not  particularly 
attractive  community. 

The  country  to  which  the  Protectorate  most  inv'ites 
comparison  is  undoubtedly  Southern  Rhodesia,  which 
being  also  a  mixed  agricultural  and  ranching  territory,  and 
not  many  years  older,  has  many  points  in  common.  Both 
offer  sound  prospects  of  success  to  much  the  same  type  of 
man,  and,  apart  from  differences  in  crops,  such  as  the 
predominance  of  maize  and  tobacco  in  Southern  Rhodesia 
and  of  wheat  and  sisal  in  East  Africa,  there  is  so  much 
resemblance  that  the  intending  settler  may  well  find  it 
difficult  to  decide  to  which  of  the  two  countries  he  will 
entrust  his  fortune.  The  point  that  struck  us  most  was 
that,  whereas  East  Africa  is  perhaps  more  favoured  by 
nature.  Southern  Rhodesia  has  a  tremendous  pull  in 
having  a  large  and  ever-increasing  market  at  its  doors  in 
the  Union  of  South  Africa,  apart  from  the  demands  created 
by  its  own  mining  community. 

The  climate  of  the  East  Africa  highlands  is  good,  but 
perhaps  a  little  more  treacherous  than  that  of  its  southern 


BRITISH  EAST  AFRICA 


135 


rival — a  fact  which  is  attributed  not  only  to  its  proximity 
to  the  equator  but  also  to  its  altitude,  which  has  a  trying 
effect  on  residents  who  stay  too  long  without  an  occasional 
visit  to  a  temperate  zone. 

We  were  exceedingly  glad  that  we  had  had  this  brief 
glimpse  of  British  East  Africa,  especially  as  the  people 
whom  we  met  in  Uganda  were  rather  inclined  to  speak 
disparagingly  of  it,  and  we  might,  had  we  not  gone,  have 
carried  away  with  us  a  false  impression,  imagining,  from 
the  proximity  of  the  source  from  which  our  information 
had  come,  that  it  was  a  correct  one.  This  delightful  fort- 
night showed  us  a  great  country  in  the  making,  a  country 
where  an  enormous  amount  has  been  done  in  the  brief 
space  of  ten  years — i.e.  since  the  railway  rendered  de- 
velopment possible — and  as  fine  a  monument  to  the 
colonising  genius  of  the  British  race  as  one  could  wish  to 
see.  Under  the  guidance  of  its  present  Governor,  Sir 
Percy  Girouard,  who  appears  to  have  made  an  equally 
favourable  impression  as  a  sound  and  able  administrator 
on  the  non-official  population  as  he  has  on  the  members 
of  his  administration,  the  steady  progress  of  the  territory, 
at  any  rate  during  the  next  few  years,  seems  sufficiently 
assured. 


X 


RETURN  TO  ENTEBBE  AND  BY  MOTOR 
TO  MUBENDI 

Across  the  lake  on  the  s.s.  Clement  Hill — The  Entebbe  Customs — Botani- 
cal Gardens — Preparations  for  journey  north — The  golf-links — 
Further  impressions  of  Entebbe — Departure  by  motor-waggon — 
Rain  at  Kampala — Wonders  of  the  motor  road — Its  maintenance — 
"  Mosquito  Camp  " — Our  fellow-passengers  and  the  prospects  for 
settlers — Mishap  to  the  car  and  other  incidents — Mubendi — Meeting 
with  the  Acting  Governor. 

At  a  little  past  eight  we  left  the  train  and  embarked  on 
the  s.s.  Clement  Hill,  which  was  berthed  alongside  the  quay, 
and  found  to  our  relief  that  breakfast  was  awaiting  us. 
The  Clement  Hill  is  the  newest  and  largest  of  the  lake 
fleet,  and  corresponds  more  or  less  in  size  with  the  Nyanza. 
It  is  even  better  appointed  than  the  Sybil,  which  we  had 
found  comfortable  enough,  though  overcrowded.  Our 
fellow-passengers  this  time  consisted  of  a  young  engineer 
taking  up  an  appointment  in  the  Public  Works  Depart- 
ment of  the  Uganda  Government ;  two  intending  planters  ; 
a  couple  of  subalterns  of  the  King's  African  Rifles  stationed 
at  Bombo,  who  were  returning  after  a  spirited  effort  to 
lift  a  cup  at  Nairobi  with  two  reputed  Somali  ponies  that 
had  been  disqualified  as  being  nothing  of  the  kind,  and 
who  were  pretty  cheerful  considering  the  unfortunate  and 
rather  expensive  fiasco  that  had  awaited  them  ;  and,  lastly, 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Akeley  of  America.  This  enterprising  and 
interesting  couple  had  already  seen  a  good  deal  of  Uganda 
and  British  East  Africa,  and  on  a  previous  visit  had  suc- 
ceeded in  securing  specimens  of  most  of  the  game  in  the 
two  Protectorates,  and  were  looking  for  more.  Their 
object  was  the  collection  of  specimens  for  a  museum, 
and  their  intention  to  spend  three  or  four  months  on  a 
round  trip  in  Uganda.    Mrs.  Akeley  had  just  succeeded 

136 


ENTEBBE  AND  MUBENDI 


137 


in  bagging  two  lions  under  exceptionally  trying  circum- 
stances and  a  big  elephant  near  Mount  Kenia,  while  her 
husband  had  had  about  as  near  an  escape  as  he  wanted 
from  being  annihilated  by  another  one,  which,  he  ex- 
plained, had  strongly  objected  to  what  must  have  appeared 
to  be  an  attempt  to  extract  its  tusks  while  it  was  still  alive. 

In  the  early  afternoon  we  had  our  attention  called  to 
an  extraordinary  phenomenon,  which  is,  however,  quite 
common  on  the  lake.  The  chief  engineer,  on  coming 
down  late  to  lunch,  told  us  that  he  had  seen  a  waterspout 
quite  close.  As  we  had  finished  our  meal  we  hurried  up 
on  deck  to  obtain  a  glimpse  of  it,  and  saw  near  the 
southern  horizon  a  grey  smoke-like  column  arising  from 
the  surface  of  the  lake  and  expanding  into  what  looked  a 
cloud  above.  Thinking  that  this  must  be  the  engineer's 
waterspout  we  approached  Captain  Gray  and  Mr.  Akeley, 
who  were  also  intently  observing  it,  and  asked  them  if  we 
were  right  in  our  conjecture. 

"Waterspout!"  said  the  skipper  without  a  smile — 
"  Flies." 

"  Flies  ?  "  we  repeated,  and  thinking  our  legs  were  being 
pulled,  turned  to  Mr.  Akeley  in  the  hope  of  eliciting  a 
more  sympathetic  explanation. 

"  Quite  true,"  he  said.  "  Flies.  Haven't  you  seen 
the  lake  fly  before  ?  " 

"  No,"  we  retorted,  "  we  haven't  ;  we  didn't  know 
it  flew." 

Assuring  us  that  neither  he  nor  the  skipper  had  any 
intention  of  deceiving  us,  he  explained  that  he  was  really 
referring  to  the  insect  known  as  the  "  lake  fly,"  1  and  not 
to  any  spasmodic  frivolity  on  the  part  of  the  waters  of 
Victoria  Nyanza.  The  apparent  waterspout  was  nothing 
more  or  less  than  a  huge  cloud  of  myriads  of  tiny  flies, 
which  rise  from  the  surface  of  the  lake  in  such  dense 
columns  as  sometimes  to  obscure  the  light  of  the  sun  like 
a  pillar  of  smoke. 

We  anchored  for  the  night  in  the  open  lake,  and  were 

*  Also  found  on  Lake  Nyasa  and  possibly  on  Tanganyika.  Vide  George 
Gretifell  and  the  Conge,  footnote  to  vol.  i.  p.  233. 


138    THROUGH  THE  HEART  OF  AFRICA 


not  a  little  disturbed  by  the  ship's  mosquitoes.  In  the 
innocent  remembrance  of  our  cool  untroubled  nights  on 
the  deck  of  the  Sybil  we  had  forgotten  to  suspect  their 
existence,  and  thought  mosquito  curtains  a  superfluity. 
We  reached  Entebbe  shortly  after  noon  on  Monday  the 
17th  of  October,  and  after  lunching  on  board  proceeded 
to  the  business  of  rescuing  our  baggage  from  the  sheds 
and  passing  it  through  the  Customs.  Owing  to  the  lack 
of  transport  we  were  unable  to  remove  the  property  we 
had  left  stored,  but,  after  four  hours,  succeeded  in  getting 
nearly  all  the  baggage  we  had  with  us  through  the  office, 
which  was  at  the  end  of  the  pier,  and  up  to  the  town  to 
Mr.  Russell's  house.  To  our  surprise  and  relief  the 
Goanese  clerk  whom  we  found  in  possession  informed  us 
that  nothing  was  dutiable,  and  only  guns  and  ammunition 
required  permits  of  importation.  As  a  matter  of  fact  our 
joy  was  short-lived ;  all  our  property  except  personal 
clothing  was,  as  we  had  indeed  believed,  subject  to  an 
import  duty  of  10  per  cent,  ad  valorem.  The  babu's 
mistake  was  due  to  his  failure  to  realise  that  we  had  come 
from  anywhere  else  than  the  East  Africa  Protectorate. 
But  by  means  of  a  roundabout  communication  from 
Mombasa  on  the  subject  of  a  revolver  that  we  had  had 
with  us,  and  had  left  at  Kisumu  on  proceeding  to  Nairobi, 
the  Customs  Department  had  been  apprised  of  our  exist- 
ence, and  on  meeting  the  Customs  officer  later  in  the 
day  we  learnt  the  bitter  truth. 

A  stroll  in  the  Botanical  Gardens  and  a  short  visit  to 
the  Club  brought  us  to  dinner-time,  after  which,  as  tired 
as  if  we  had  been  doing  a  busy  day's  shopping,  we  retired 
early  to  bed. 

The  Botanical  Gardens  gave  us  a  hint  of  the  treraen- 
dous  fertility  of  the  Uganda  Protectorate,  of  which  we 
were  to  see  such  ample  proof  later  on.  The  beds  and 
groves  of  cultivated  flowers  and  trees  are  interspersed  with 
clumps  and  arbours  of  forest  giants  and  patches  of  creeper- 
tangled  jungle  which,  in  their  original  unspoilt  luxuriance, 
lend  a  convincing  air  of  naturalness  to  the  whole.  Coffee, 
cocoa,  rubber  trees  of  various  kinds,  including  the  Fun- 


ENTEBBE  AND  MUBENDI 


139 


tumia  which  is  indigenous  to  Uganda,  are  flourishing  in 
their  separate  plantations,  while  beds  and  shelters  are 
devoted  to  the  nursing  of  cuttings  and  the  propagation  of 
seedlings  or  rare  orchids  and  local  floral  treasures. 

Partly  for  experiment,  and  partly  with  the  double 
purpose  of  keeping  down  the  vegetation  and  discouraging 
the  Glossina  palpalis,  whose  presence  on  the  shores  has  so 
largely  restricted  the  enjoyment  of  the  lake  at  Entebbe, 
a  large  area  has  been  planted  with  lemon  grass,  of  which 
the  tufts  already  measured  some  two  feet  by  five  or  six  in 
circumference. 

We  left  by  one  of  the  main  approaches  to  the  Gardens, 
which  was  bordered  by  a  double  row  of  firs  that  were 
beautiful  even  for  Entebbe,  after  passing  a  lawn  that 
might  have  been  lying  in  front  of  an  old  English  home, 
well  rolled  for  three  hundred  years. 

Not  much  remained  to  complete  our  arrangements  before 
starting  north,  but  we  had  none  too  much  time  to  spare. 

The  motor  van  that  was  taking  us  as  far  as  Mubendi, 
about  130  miles,  was  to  start  at  dawn  on  Thursday.  Wed- 
nesday, they  told  us  at  one  time,  which  would  have 
meant  an  uncomfortable  dislocation  of  plans,  but  it  proved 
to  be  a  false  alarm. 

Licences  and  permits  had  to  be  procured,  a  few  more 
purchases  made,  photographs  to  be  rescued  from  the  local 
expert,  Alidina  Visram's  cheque  cashed,  and  arrangements 
if  possible  made  by  which  we  could  cash  up-country  any 
others  of  the  kind  that  might  come  our  way  in  exchange 
for  our  ivory. 

The  second  and  third  presented  no  great  difficulties, 
the  first  revealed  to  us  rather  an  amusing  anomaly  in  the 
laws  of  the  country,  and  the  last-named  nearly  resulted  in 
a  painful  fiasco. 

The  anomalous  feature  of  the  licence  negotiations  con- 
sisted in  the  necessity  of  paying  the  exorbitant  sum  of 
Rs.5  for  a  licence  to  kill  birds,  when  for  a  trifle  of  ;^8o 
one  had  secured  permission  to  kill  two  elephants  and 
every  other  quadruped  in  the  country  except  eland  and  a 
few  other  fauna  that  probably  do  not  exist.    We  were  able 


140    THROUGH  THE   HEART  OF  AFRICA 


to  appreciate  the  feelings  of  the  sportsman  who,  having 
been  similarly  bled,  returned  to  the  office  and  humbly 
asked  if  any  other  payment  would  be  required  for  per- 
mission to  kill  mosquitoes. 

Alidina  had  scored  off  us — or  rather  we  had  allowed 
him  to  score  of¥  us  by  inadvertently  accepting  his  draft 
on  three  days'  sight.  As  the  document  was  written  in  a 
combination  of  Ki-Swahili,  Hindustani,  and  other  unknown 
tongues  there  may  have  been  some  excuse  for  us,  but  at 
all  events  the  net  result  was  that  the  Entebbe  branch  obsti- 
nately refused  to  convert  it  into  cash — except  at  5  per  cent, 
discount,  which  seemed  rather  irrelevant — until  two  days 
after  we  had  left  Entebbe.  Argument  with  a  pock-marked 
and  oily  Hindu  who  was  not  even  manager  at  the  local 
emporium  was  obviously  futile,  so  with  a  few  expressions 
of  pained  surprise,  and  of  wonder  that  under  the  circum- 
stances it  would  advance  any  worthy  cause  for  him  to  gaze 
for  three  days  at  a  dirty  piece  of  paper  ornamented  with 
his  Mwanza  colleague's  favourite  hieroglyphics,  we  tried  the 
National  Bank  of  India,  and  were  much  relieved  to  find 
that  the  manager  was  willing  to  cash  it  without  any  elabo- 
rate delays.  The  arrangements  for  cash  up-country  seemed 
unlikely  to  result  in  any  difficulty,  and  we  felt  solvent  once 
more. 

There  still  remained  the  task  of  excavating  our  baggage 
from  the  Customs  sheds:  but  it  was  eventually  accomplished 
with  the  assistance  and  co-operation  of  the  Customs  Officer, 
who  added  to  his  kindness  by  giving  us  the  opportunity  of 
judging  the  prosperity  and  progress  of  the  country  by  an 
examination  of  the  Customs  returns  for  the  past  few  years. 
One  of  our  assorted  packages  of  equipment,  by  the  way, 
had  been  adopted  by  a  honeymoon  couple  of  rats  during 
its  sojourn  in  the  shed,  and  the  discovery  was  signalised  by 
the  funeral  of  fourteen  promising  youngsters. 

After  these  exertions  the  situation  indicated  some  form 
of  recreation,  and  the  evening  was  spent  in  a  short  but 
pleasant  game  of  golf  on  a  turf  links,  that  seemed  to  us 
ridiculously  good  for  Central  Africa,  but  which  we  were 
assured  were  not  nearly  as  good  as  those  at  Kampala. 


ENTEBBE  AND  MUBENDI 


141 


The  latter  had  been  laid  out  on  a  patch  of  land  that,  as 
little  as  four  years  ago,  had  been  a  mass  of  elephant  grass 
(of  which  more  anon),  and  now,  after  being  first  cleared, 
then  lying  under  a  sweet  potato  crop  for  a  year,  and  then 
sown  with  grass,  constituted  a  course  that  would  not  have 
been  discreditable  to  a  South  England  watering-place. 

Our  opponent  was  Mr.  J.  F.  Cunningham,  of  the  Secre- 
tariat, who  had  been  one  of  the  first  comers  to  the  country 
as  a  member  of  Sir  Harry  Johnston's  staff.  He  also  evinced 
a  great  interest  in  the  ethnographical  notes  collected  on 
our  journey,  as  would  be  expected  in  one  who  has  himself 
published  a  work  on  the  customs  and  the  history  of  the 
natives  of  Uganda.  Wednesday  was  devoted  to  re-sorting 
and  re-packing  a  few  boxes,  confirming  motor-transport 
arrangements,  a  view  of  the  Treasurer's  strong-room  full 
of  elephant  tusks,  amongst  which  was  a  pair  of  over  150  lbs. 
weight  each,  lunching,  golfing  and  leave-taking  at  the 
Club. 

Our  stay  in  Entebbe  had  been  an  interlude  which  we 
shall  remember  with  as  much  pleasure  as  any  section  of 
our  journey  from  its  beginning  to  its  end.  Assistance 
and  advice  had  been  given  as  soon  as  asked  with  a  readiness 
that  it  w'ould  be  difficult  to  over-appreciate,  and  every  one 
with  whom  we  had  come  in  contact,  from  our  host  down- 
wards, had  welcomed  us  with  a  cordiality  that  made  us  feel 
as  if  we  were  amongst  old  friends. 

The  gaiety  of  Nairobi  in  race-week,  though  entirely 
enjoyable,  had  been  a  trifle  too  exuberant  to  be  taken  in 
more  than  homoeopathic  doses,  and  it  was  with  no  small 
regret — except  that  we  knew  we  wanted  to  be  trekking 
again — that  we  had  to  tear  ourselves  away  from  the  tranquil 
and  recuperative  atmosphere  of  Entebbe  society  and  its 
Club. 

The  Government  motor-lorry  did  not  call  for  us  till 
about  nine  o'clock  after  all,  and  it  was  nearly  an  hour  more 
before  we  had  stowed  away  ourselves  and  our  baggage 
and  were  ready  to  make  a  start.  Though  we  had  it  almost 
to  ourselves,  it  was  a  considerably  smaller  vehicle  than  the 
Nairobi  vans,  weighing  i|  tons  empty,  and  capable  of 


142     THROUGH  THE  HEART  OF  AFRICA 


carrying  25  cwt.  of  baggage,  besides  four  passengers  and 
the  driver. 

Our  impedimenta  must  have  come  to  about  3000 
lbs.;  for  a  part  of  the  journey  there  were  two  other  pas- 
sengers with  a  Httle  baggage,  and  there  were  four  or  five 
native  servants.  However,  it  was  all  packed  in  and  piled 
on  somehow,  though  the  top  layers,  mostly  chairs,  tents, 
tables,  and  buckets,  which  depended  chiefly  on  a  few  stray 
ropes  for  their  security,  were  to  cause  us  a  good  deal  of 
anxiety  and  tribulation  before  we  had  got  very  far.  Our 
own  staf¥  still  consisted  of  the  two  Rhodesian  boys  we 
had  taken  with  us  into  British  East  Africa  ;  those  who 
had  been  left  at  Entebbe  had  been  forwarded,  as  we  had 
requested,  by  road,  to  await  us  at  Mubendi. 

The  car  only  boasted  engines  of  sixteen  horse-power, 
but  we  had  been  making  very  fair  headway  along  the 
excellent  road  between  Entebbe  and  Kampala,  when  it 
suddenly  dawned  upon  us  that  all  our  property  had  not 
been  piled  on  ;  we  had  left  our  bicycles  behind  !  Fortu- 
nately there  is  telephonic  communication  between  Entebbe 
and  Kampala,  and  though  we  were  not  going  to  pass  through 
the  latter  place,  a  boy  could  probably  be  found  on  the 
outskirts  who  could  be  sent  in  with  a  message,  and  there 
was  a  good  chance  that  either  at  Entebbe  or  Kampala  a 
couple  of  natives  could  be  found  sufficiently  accomplished 
to  ride  our  machines  out  to  Mubendi. 

At  two  miles  from  the  native  capital  an  intelligent 
native  was  encountered  who  was  willing  to  take  a  note  in  to 
the  transport  manager,  and  just  at  that  moment  the  rain 
came  down.  It  was  the  genuine  tropical  downpour,  and 
though  it  lasted  less  than  an  hour,  it  was  soon  obvious, 
even  before  we  had  lost  sight  of  the  charred  ruins  of 
Namulembe  Cathedral  (destroyed  by  lightning  three  weeks 
before),  that  we  should  not,  as  we  had  hoped,  be  able  to 
make  the  half-way  resthouse  to  Mubendi  that  day. 

The  road  all  the  way  from  Entebbe  was  really  a 
remarkable  bit  of  work.  Broad  enough  nearly  its  whole 
length  for  two  motor  vans  to  pass  abreast,  it  was 
edged  by  a  wide  margin,  cleared  of  vegetation,  which  had 


ENTEBBE  AND  MUBENDI  143 


been  taken  advantage  of  by  the  natives  for  the  cultivation 
of  sweet  potatoes  and  similar  crops.  The  highway  itself 
was  metalled,  bridged,  and  culverted  all  the  way.  The 
bridges  were  of  stout  railway-sleeper  timber  on  piers  of 
cemented  stone,  and  the  culverts  which  crossed  the  road 
every  few  hundred  yards  were  constructed  of  lumps  of 
local  rock  firmly  cemented  together.  Considering  the 
number  and  substantial  nature  of  these  bridges  and 
culverts,  and  the  fact  that  it  was  metalled  throughout,  it  is 
not  surprising  that  a  road  for  heavy  motor  traffic  now 
carved  through  the  densest  of  tropical  jungles,  now  raised 
on  solid  causeways  through  spongy  and  yielding  papyrus 
swamps,  and  often  cut  out  of  hillsides  with  a  slope  of  forty- 
live  degrees  or  more,  was  constructed  at  an  initial  cost  of 
something  like  ;^i5o  per  mile,  and  had  recently  been 
repaired  at  nearly  a  third  of  that  sum. 

The  existence  of  this  artery,  and  the  fact  that  the 
traffic  upon  it  is  already  remunerative,  is  in  itself  a  proof 
of  the  country's  natural  resources  and  the  enterprise  with 
which  they  are  being  exploited. 

The  efficient  maintenance  of  such  a  road  is  attended 
with  difficulties  which  exist  in  but  few  other  countries. 
It  passes  over  a  variety  of  soils  and  a  variety  of  gradients, 
while  the  rapid  growth  of  the  rank  vegetation,  and  the 
heavy  rains  which  fall  twice  in  the  year,  are  factors  that  no 
amount  of  surface  metalling  or  the  most  thorough  drainage 
system  will  permanently  withstand.  Small  grounds  for 
wonder,  then,  that  after  the  recent  rains  the  soft  clay  soil 
on  some  of  the  jungle  gradients  should  have  absorbed  the 
top  dressing  and  proved  almost  more  than  our  van,  with 
its  exceptionally  heavy  load  and  its  rather  inadequate 
power,  was  able  to  manage. 

We  had  not,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  covered  more  than  44 
miles  when  our  driver  warned  us  that  we  ought  to  camp 
where  we  were  by  the  roadside  if  we  wanted  to  get  our 
tents  pitched  before  dark.  Recognising  the  soundness  of 
his  advice,  we  got  to  work  with  as  little  delay  as  possible. 

It  was  hardly  an  ideal  spot  for  camping  under  any 
circumstances,  and  in  the  absence  of  the  usual  gang  of 


144    THROUGH  THE   HEART  OF  AFRICA 


carriers  to  clear  the  undergrowth,  pitch  the  tents,  fetch 
firewood  and  water,  and  do  a  hundred  other  irksome  but 
necessary  Httle  duties,  we  had  about  as  tough  a  job  as  we 
could  wish  for. 

Some  forty  yards  from  the  road  we  found  a  spot 
v/hich,  if  it  had  nothing  else  to  recommend  it,  was  clear 
of  trees  and  comparatively  level.  With  but  one  hoe  there 
was  no  time  to  do  more  than  just  scuffle  a  couple  of 
patches  for  our  tents,  while  the  rest  of  the  grass,  which 
was  waist  high  and  sopping  wet,  had  to  be  brushed  aside 
or  trodden  down  as  we  came  to  it.  The  water  supply 
was  close  at  hand,  for  we  were  almost  on  the  edge  of  a 
swamp,  but  firewood  presented  a  real  difficulty.  Incredible 
as  it  may  seem  to  those  who  know  Rhodesia  and  such 
countries  in  Central  and  South  Africa,  where  the  drier 
atmosphere  and  the  regular  bush  fires,  not  to  mention 
the  natives'  tree-looping  methods  of  cultivation,  provide 
the  traveller  with  an  ample  supply  of  fuel  on  every  side, 
there  simply  was  not  a  dead  tree  or  stick  anywhere  to  be 
found.  The  prospect  was  not  brilliant,  but  with  a  few 
pieces  of  packing  cases,  a  few  logs  of  green  wood,  and 
some  candle-ends  we  eventually  managed  a  fire  which, 
while  it  did  not  succeed  in  adding  materially  to  the 
cheerfulness  of  the  scene,  proved  just  equal  to  the  simple 
culinary  operations  that  the  occasion  demanded.  Our 
fellow-passengers,  two  brothers  named  Outram,  had 
naturally  been  expecting  to  reach  their  destination,  which 
was  only  about  ten  miles  farther  on,  without  halting  cji 
route,  and  were  unprovided  with  tents  or  camping  equip- 
ment. Fortunately  they  were  able  to  make  themselves 
fairly  comfortable  with  our  second  tent,  and  our  spare 
fly  on  which  to  lay  their  bedding,  though,  without  a 
mosquito  curtain,  their  night's  rest  could  hardly  have  been 
described  as  undisturbed,  nor  indeed  could  ours  :  if  this 
was  a  sample  of  an  average  night  in  Uganda,  we  did  not 
feel  very  enthusiastic  about  it.  As  a  matter  of  fact, 
though  fortunately  they  were  of  the  cukx  and  not  the 
anopheles  family,  the  continuous,  combined,  and  ferocious 
attacks  of  those  mosquitoes  from  sunset  till  sunrise  were 


ENTEBBE  AND   MUBENDI  145 

unequalled  by  anything  we  had  experienced  before,  or 
have  suffered  since,  excepting  perhaps  in  some  of  the 
Bangweulu  swamps,  and  at  Lado  on  New  Year's  Eve. 
To  us  the  place  will  always  be  known  as  "  mosquito 
camp " ;  and  the  fact  that  we  were  occasionally  able  to 
raise  a  mouthful  from  our  plates  to  our  lips  without 
interruption  was  probably  only  due  to  the  fact  that  we ' 
plentifully  anointed  ourselves  from  time  to  time  from  a 
bottle  of  lavender  and  citronella  oil. 

This  is  one  of  the  most  effective  anti-mosquito  mixtures 
that  is  made,  and  we  recommend  any  one  who  is  exposed 
to  the  attacks  of  the  insects  never  to  be  without  it.  It 
is  cheaper  than  pure  lavender  oil,  which  is  itself  very 
effective,  and  lasts  quite  as  long.  We  constantly  dabbed 
faces,  hands,  and  ankles  with  it  when  seated  or  camped 
in  insect-ridden  spots,  and  a  small  four-ounce  bottle, 
purchased  in  October,  lasted  us  right  through  the  re- 
mainder of  our  trip. 

Though  the  afternoon's  shower  had  soaked  everything 
and  sunset  was  followed  by  a  drenching  dew,  we  fortu- 
nately had  no  more  rain  during  the  night,  and  woke  up 
feeling  comparatively  dry.  It  took  some  little  time 
striking  camp  and  re-loading  our  baggage,  which  had 
been  removed  from  the  van  for  the  accommodation  of 
the  driver  and  his  bed,  and  it  was  just  eight  o'clock 
before  we  got  going  again. 

Our  first  halt  was  about  ten  miles  on,  at  a  turning  up 
to  a  plantation  belonging  to  Mr,  Speke,  a  relative  of  the 
famous  explorer,  where  we  dropped  the  Messrs.  Outram. 

Our  fellow-passengers  were  visiting  the  country  with 
the  object  of  finding  some  suitable  land  for  planting 
purposes.  They  were  much  impressed  by  the  vegetation 
and  appearance  of  the  Uganda  soil :  they  were  men  who 
had  done  a  variety  of  work  in  a  variety  of  lands,  including 
Canada,  Australia,  New  Zealand,  and  Ceylon,  and  they 
maintained  that  the  fertility  of  the  last-named  was  not 
nearly  so  great  as  that  of  the  country  they  had  been 
passing  through.  The  plan  they  were  thinking  of 
adopting,  supposing  suitable  planting  land  in  Uganda  to 

K 


146     THROUGH  THE   HEART  OF  AFRICA 


be  available,  was  to  take  up  a  second  plot  in  the 
highlands  of  the  East  Africa  Protectorate,  which  they 
would  also  cultivate,  and  to  which  they  could  resort  in 
turn  as  they  needed  a  change.  The  idea  seemed  to  be  a 
good  one.  There  must  be  plenty  of  suitable  land  in 
British  East  Africa  within  comparatively  easy  reach  of  the 
central  parts  of  Uganda,  by  means  of  rail,  lake,  and 
motor,  and  experience  shows  that,  though  eminently 
suitable  for  the  growing  of  valuable  crops,  the  greater  part 
of  the  latter  country  has  a  climate  which  does  not  admit 
of  long-continued  residence  for  Europeans. 

The  acquisition  of  land  in  Uganda  proper  {i.e.  in  the 
Buganda  province  of  Uganda)  is,  however,  a  difficult 
matter.  To  begin  with,  there  is  extremely  little  land 
available,  as  the  Government  owns  hardly  any  and  the 
land  held  by  the  Baganda  cannot  be  alienated.  Of  the 
small  tracts  which  are  available  for  plantations  the  Govern- 
ment has  a  few  plots  which  it  is  prepared  to  lease  to 
suitable  settlers,  but  freehold  is  not  granted,  the  best  terms 
that  a  planter  can  obtain  being  a  99-year  lease.  Under 
these  circumstances  it  is  hardly  to  be  wondered  at  that 
very  few  settlers  have  hitherto  taken  up  land  in  this 
province. 

Near  Mitiana  we  passed  close  to  the  north  end  of  the 
beautiful  little  Lake  Isolt,  which,  though  insignificant  when 
compared  with  the  Great  Lakes,  is  quite  a  gem  ;  and  at 
mile  44  from  Kampala,  66  from  Entebbe,  we  had  to  stop 
again  :  this  time  to  await  the  same  erratic  youngster  who 
had  delayed  the  train  at  Naivasha,  and  who  had  skipped 
off  the  back  of  the  gar  to  buy  some  bananas  as  we 
were  crawling  up  a  hill.  By  the  time  he  had  completed 
his  purchase  the  incline  was  in  our  favour  again,  and 
we  had  been  going  at  ten  miles  an  hour  for  some- 
thing over  ten  minutes  before  we  discovered  his  loss. 
The  invective  with  which  he  was  naturally  greeted  seemed 
to  have  hurt  his  feelings,  for  in  the  evening  he  electrified 
us  by  asking  for  his  pay  and  permission  to  return  home. 
It  had  not  occurred  to  him  that  about  three  tons  of  van 
and  baggage  could  elude  him  so  quickly,  and  was  quite 


ENTEBBE  AND  MUBENDI 


147 


confident  that  he  would  have  caught  us  up  again  in  the 
evening — thirty-four  miles  farther  on.  Needless  to  say, 
he  did  not  get  his  pay  or  his  conge,  though  it  took  a 
little  argument  to  convince  him  that  the  middle  of 
Uganda  was  not  the  best  place  to  try  and  score  off  us 
by  sending  in  his  resignation. 

Five  or  six  miles  from  our  destination,  a  slight  mis- 
hap— the  only  one  that  occurred  during  the  journey — 
looked  for  a  time  as  if  it  was  going  to  prevent  us  reaching 
the  second  rest-house  that  night. 

In  avoiding  an  open  culvert  which  was  in  course 
of  construction  or  repair,  we  had  to  leave  the  metalled 
surface  of  the  road  and  take  to  the  soft  ground  at  the 
side.  After  the  recent  rain  there  was  naturally  a  risk 
that  our  heavily  laden  car  would  not  get  round  without 
some  difficulty,  and,  sure  enough,  we  stuck  when  we  had 
got  just  half-way.  The  engine  made  a  noble  effort,  but 
the  revolutions  of  the  wheels  made  matters  rather  worse 
than  better,  as  they  only  succeeded  in  digging  themselves 
a  deeper  grave  without  in  any  way  altering  the  position 
of  the  car.  The  mud  was  up  to  the  axle-trees  on  the 
off-side,  and  we  were  beginning  to  think  that  it  was  going 
to  be  a  case  at  any  rate  of  unloading  or  perhaps  of 
outspanning  for  the  night.  Eventually,  however,  after 
the  chain  had  come  off  twice  and  had  been  as  often 
replaced,  after  the  chauffeur's  admirable  and  habitual 
sang-froid  had  been  entirely  destroyed  by  his  wallowing 
and  burrowing  operations  under  the  car,  when  the  road 
gang  had  been  furiously  digging  and  pulling  for  half-an- 
hour,  we  threw  ourselves  on  to  the  rope  and  pulled  her 
out.  The  dog  Jock,  as  we  discovered  afterwards  from 
the  photograph,  rendered  valuable  assistance  by  fixing  his 
teeth  in  the  loin-cloth  of  the  end  man  on  the  rope.  No 
further  delays  occurred,  and  we  reached  Chakakusenga 
bungalow  at  half-past  three. 

The  bungalow  consisted  of  a  small  two-roomed  wood 
and  iron  building  standing  on  piles  some  four  and  a  half 
feet  above  the  ground.  Doors  and  windows  were  mos- 
quito-proofed throughout,  and  it  was  furnished  with  a 


148    THROUGH  THE  HEART  OF  AFRICA 


bed,  blankets,  tables,  and  chairs,  a  complete  set  of  crockery 
and  kitchen  utensils,  and^ — -a  visitors'  book !  There  were 
kitchen  and  boys'  huts  at  the  back,  and  a  resident  native 
caretaker.  For  the  use  of  the  house  and  everything 
in  it,  a  charge  of  Rs.2  per  diem  was  made.  Periodical 
inspections  were  made  by  officers  of  the  Public  Works 
Department.  An  embryo  vegetable  garden  provided 
us  with  cabbages  and  tomatoes,  eggs  and  milk  were 
obtainable  close  at  hand  without  any  difficulty,  and  the 
night  spent  in  these  comfortable  quarters  was  in  pleasing 
contrast  to  that  passed  at  "  mosquito  camp." 

Starting  again  at  eight  o'clock  next  morning,  our  third 
and  last  day's  stage  was  free  from  rain  or  long  delays,  but 
not  without  incident.  The  road  was  dry  again  and  fairly 
firm  ;  greater  speed  was  generally  possible,  and  we  negoti- 
ated nearly  all  the  hills  and  rises  at  the  first  attempt.  But 
it  was  not  long  before  we  realised  that  this  was  no  un- 
mixed blessing.  The  driving  was  skilful,  but  the  road, 
though  wonderful,  was  not  a  Brooklands  track,  and  as 
we  swayed  and  jolted  round  bends  and  over  switchbacks 
no  known  device  could  have  kept  our  top  layer  of  impedi- 
menta permanently  in  its  place  or  prevented  the  cargo 
from  shifting  forward  and  back. 

The  first  thing  to  go  was  a  camp-table,  and  as  this  had 
been  poised  on  the  top  of  the  hood,  its  detachment  had 
only  been  a  matter  of  time.  Fortunately  the  boys,  who 
were  wedged  in  some  marvellous  way  between  the  roof 
and  the  cargo,  noticed  its  flight,  and  it  was  rescued — the 
damage  only  two  loose  screws.  Next,  half  a  tent  shot  off 
from  behind — why  a  boy  didn't  go  off  with  it  was  a 
mystery — and  then  a  bundle  of  bedding,  but  the  staff 
were  on  the  qui  vive  and  nothing  escaped  unnoticed.  In 
fact  by  this  time  they  had  more  or  less  detected  the  weak 
spots  in  the  structure,  and  were  doing  their  best  to  keep  it 
together  by  hanging  on  to  the  packages  that  looked  most 
like  sliding  off.  The  packages  were  occasionally  too  much 
for  them,  but  a  warning  shout  from  behind  now  and  again 
reached  us  in  time  to  stop  the  car  and  readjust  the  balance. 

The  last  thing  to  elude  them  was  a  new  bucket.  As 


ENTEBBE  AND   MUBENDI  149 


we  were  taking  a  fresh  kick-off  to  get  up  an  unusually  steep 
incline,  it  contrived  to  slip  out  sideways  through  a  loose 
spot  in  the  hood  and  fell  in  front  of  the  back  wheel.  As 
it  was  no  longer  a  bucket  when  it  emerged,  and  we  had 
no  use  for  a  coal  scoop,  we  left  it  behind  as  a  souvenir  of 
our  passage. 

But  the  work  of  salvaging  the  gear  that  was  falling  off 
behind  was  a  mere  bagatelle  beside  the  perilous  situation 
of  ourselves  and  our  live  stock  in  front.  We  were  well 
below  the  upper  strata,  not  sitting  on  it.  The  car  was 
admirably  impartial  in  both  the  direction  and  force  of  its 
kicks  and  jolts,  and  we  soon  learnt  that  whenever  some- 
thing happened  astern  it  would  be  quickly  followed  by 
trouble  forrard.  But  we  had  taken  the  precaution  of 
stacking  the  larger  and  less  erratic  articles  at  our  im- 
mediate backs,  and  though  their  displacement  looked 
occasionally  menacing,  a  push  here  and  a  pull  there, 
when  we  stopped  to  find  out  the  damage,  seemed  to  be 
all  that  was  required.  Deluded  we  !  Lulled  into  a  false 
sense  of  security  by  a  longish  stretch  of  smooth  road, 
and  by  lunch,  one  of  us  had  lain  at  full  length  on  the 
bench  behind  the  driver,  while  the  other  sat  comfortably 
smoking  in  the  seat  at  his  side  ;  consoling  ourselves  with 
the  reflection  that  things  had  settled  down,  and  there 
would  probably  be  no  more  eruptions.  But  a  strange 
thing  had  apparently  been  taking  place  in  the  contents 
of  that  resourceful  car.  Instead  of  settling  to  the  bottom, 
as  is  expected  of  all  orthodox  masses  of  objects  of  various 
sizes,  the  more  mobile  articles  had  in  some  mysterious  way 
been  gradually  coming  to  the  top.  First  a  camera  de- 
scended suddenly  on  to  the  nape  of  some  one's  neck,  then 
a  cartridge-magazine  shot  into  the  small  of  his  back,  and 
the  climax  seemed  to  have  been  reached  when  the  larger 
of  our  two  luncheon  baskets  violently  deposited  itself  on 
to  the  waistband  of  the  post-prandial  sleeper.  But  it 
had  not.  Five  minutes  later,  when  we  were  all  once 
more  awake  to  the  possibilities  of  the  situation,  though 
feeling  philosophically  resigned  to  our  inability  to  antici- 
pate them,  a  volcanic  concussion  and  a  sensation  that  the 


ISO    THROUGH  THE   HEART  OF  AFRICA 


world  was  staggering  to  disruption  over  our  heads,  was 
followed  by  the  piercing  yells  of  one  of  the  dogs  from 
underneath  the  front  seat.  There  had  been  a  combined 
effort  on  the  part  of  the  cargo  :  everything  had  shifted 
about  a  foot,  and  the  seat  carried  away  from  its  bearings, 
and,  with  fourteen  stone  of  living  weight  and  half  a 
hundredweight  of  camp  equipment  on  the  top  of  it,  had 
settled  down  on  the  top  of  the  unfortunate  Jock,  and  was 
apparently  flattening  him  on  a  small  box  on  to  which  he 
had  crawled  to  avoid  the  vibration  that  he  and  Nyunshi 
so  heartily  detested.  As  his  howls  died  away  into  a 
pathetic  whimper  before  we  could  extricate  him,  it  looked 
as  if  he  was  done  for  ;  but  five  minutes  later  our  strenuous 
exertions  were  rewarded  with  success,  and  he  emerged, 
frightened,  but  not  a  whit  the  worse. 

No  further  catastrophes  occurred,  and  in  less  than  an 
hour  our  suspense  was  at  an  end  as  we  pulled  up  at  the 
foot  of  Mubendi  hill  at  half-past  one  on  October  the  22nd. 

The  last  few  miles  had  been  up  a  tortuous  incline, 
through  a  strikingly  beautiful  forest,  affording  an  example 
of  perhaps  the  finest  bit  of  engineering  on  the  whole  of 
this  remarkable  road. 

There  was  a  suitable  spot  for  our  camp  right  where 
we  halted.  The  four  members  of  the  staff,  Chumamaboko 
the  hunter,  Saidi,  Bakali,  and  Nkamba,  had  already  arrived 
from  Entebbe,  and  with  them,  curiously  enough,  two 
Northern  Rhodesia  boys,  named  Kamata  and  Yamba- 
yamba,  who  said  they  had  been  brought  all  the  way  up 
from  the  "  Star  of  the  Congo  "  near  Elisabethville  by  two 
Europeans  of  sorts,  and  then  incontinently  abandoned  at 
Entebbe,  about  a  month  before,  on  their  employers  leaving 
Uganda  vm  Victoria  Nyanza.  We  took  them  on  as  kitchen 
helps  and  bicycle  runilers — a  chance  of  earning  their  re- 
patriation which  the  poor  beggars  had  hardly  expected, 
and  seemed  to  appreciate. 

The  District  Commissioner  was  away,  but  a  telephone 
message  from  Entebbe  through  the  Provincial  Commis- 
sioner, Kampala,  had  come  through,  and  the  Indian  clerk 
had  already  secured  about  half  the  gang  of  carriers  we 


ENTEBBE  AND   MUBENDI  151 


needed.  We  pitched  our  camp  right  where  we  had  drawn 
up,  on  a  grass  patch  at  the  corner  of  the  Toro  road  and 
the  ascent  to  the  Boma  hill ;  the  spacious  porch  of  a 
cotton  store  of  Hansing's  just  across  the  road  afforded 
shelter  for  ourselves  and  our  loads  from  the  heavy  rain 
which  fell  before  our  tents  were  up. 

In  the  afternoon  we  learnt  that  the  Acting  Governor,, 
Mr.  Stanley  Tomkins,  with  Mrs.  Tomkins,  who  were  on 
their  way  to  Toro,  were  at  the  Boma,  and  heard  from 
Dr.  Owen,  who  was  in  attendance,  that  a  message  had 
arrived  from  Kampala  to  the  effect  that  our  bicycles 
were  on  the  way.  They  arrived  next  morning  more  or 
less  intact,  ridden  by  two  exhausted  native  youths  from 
Kampala.  As  it  was  quite  inconceivable  that  they  could 
have  travelled  safely  with  the  rest  of  our  kit  on  the 
motor-van,  things  had  turned  out  rather  satisfactorily. 

The  motor-van  left  again  for  Kampala  early  the 
following  morning  partially  loaded  with  bales  of  raw 
cotton  purchased  by  Hansing's  agent  from  the  local 
natives,  whom  we  had  seen  bringing  a  few  bundles  in 
for  sale  during  the  afternoon. 

Sunday  morning  was  devoted  to  the  bringing  of  our 
accounts  up  to  date  and  to  the  writing  of  our  diaries, 
which  we  had  been  keeping  day  by  day  since  we  started. 

The  afternoon  till  five  o'clock  was  spent  at  the  Boma, 
whither  Mr.  Tomkins,  in  reply  to  a  suggestion  that  we 
might  come  and  pay  our  respects,  had  invited  us  to 
lunch.  The  simplicity  and  heartiness  of  our  welcome 
by  our  host  and  hostess,  as  well  as  the  opportunity  of 
enjoying  discussion  and  exchange  of  views  on  the  problems 
and  prospects  of  this  country  and  our  own,  made  the 
day  one  of  the  pleasantest  we  spent  in  a  country  where 
every  one  was  pleasant. 

The  District  Commissioner's  house  is  substantially 
built,  on  a  plan  well  suited  to  the  climate,  and  in  a 
magnificent  position.  Placed  on  the  very  summit  of 
one  of  a  group  of  more  or  less  isolated  hills  it  affords 
a  glorious  view  of  the  country  on  all  sides,  particularly 
in  the  northerly  and  westerly  directions  and  towards 


152    THROUGH  THE  HEART  OF  AFRICA 


Ruwenzori.  From  the  point  of  view  of  convenience  its 
position  is  not  perhaps  so  ideal.  We  ascended  to  it  by 
a  bridle-path  cut  more  or  less  directly  in  the  face  of 
the  hill.  The  distance  from  the  foot  was  a  mile  and 
a  half,  and  took  us  forty-five  minutes.  The  descent — 
on  bicycles  which  we  had  had  pushed  up  by  boys — 
by  the  carriage-road  of  two  miles  and  a  half  took  us 
twelve  minutes,  with  both  brakes  hard  on  all  the  way. 

The  following  morning  nearly  our  full  tale  of  porters 
had  been  procured,  but  as  we  did  not  want  to  start 
at  all  short-handed,  we  decided  to  give  the  balance 
another  day  and  ourselves  an  opportunity  of  completing 
preparations. 

A  few  punctures  had  to  be  mended,  and  a  nearly 
worn-out  tyre  replaced ;  our  loads  had  mostly  been 
re-sorted  the  day  before,  but  could  do  with  a  little  more 
readjustment,  and  the  remainder  of  our  leisure  was 
devoted  to  the  examination  and  arrangement  of  the 
photographs  that  we  had  had  printed  in  Entebbe  and 
Nairobi. 

We  engaged  here  an  amiable  and  intelligent-looking 
Munyoro  native  named  Musa,  who  had  been,  in  a  previous 
existence,  a  bricklayer  and,  subsequently,  apparently  a 
rather  reliable  gun-bearer.  As  his  testimonials  from 
his  last  employers  (who,  he  declared,  had  each  shot  two 
colossal  elephants  under  his  guidance)  told  how  he  had 
stood  his  ground  in  a  tight  corner  when  their  professional 
hunters  had  sought  safety,  we  felt  rather  inclined  to  give 
him  a  trial.  And,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  he  did,  later, 
behave  in  exactly  the  same  way  with  us  in  precisely 
identical  circumstances. 

Before  nightfall  our  gang  of  carriers  was  complete 
and  everything  was  ready  for  a  start  next  morning.  The 
local  Mwatni  or  chief,  who  had  produced  them,  carefully 
expounded  to  them  the  period  and  terms  of  their  engage- 
ment with  us,  and  the  deference  with  which  they  listened 
to  his  explanation  was  a  striking  proof  of  the  standing 
of  the  chiefs  among  their  people  in  Uganda.  Those 
who  were  going  with  us  were  mostly  Baganda,  and  the 


The  FrsKST  bit  of  exgineerinc;  on  the  road. 


MRS.   TOMKINS.  IJR.  OWEN*. 

Mr.  Stanley  Tomkins,  Ag.  Governor  of  Uganda. 


ENTEBBE  AND   MUBENDI  153 


conditions  were  that  they  should  accompany  us  for  a 
couple  of  months,  more  or  less,  while  shooting,  and 
eventually  get  paid  off  wherever  we  happened  to  have 
got  to — probably  Butiaba.  The  extent  to  which  they 
adhered  to  the  bargain  will  be  seen  later. 

The  boy  Kasonde  had  an  unpleasant  experience  in 
the  evening,  which  might  have  had  serious  consequences. 
While  pounding  some  lumps  of  calcium  carbide  for  an 
acetylene  lamp,  a  small  piece  of  it  flew  into  his  eye. 
He  started  rolling  about  on  the  ground,  evidently  in 
acute  pain.  Considering  its  properties  it  was  rather  a 
problem  as  to  how  to  deal  with  it.  Chumamaboko, 
though  of  course  ignorant  of  the  exact  situation,  showed 
great  resource  and  presence  of  mind,  and  probably  did 
the  best  thing  possible  by  promptly  seizing  him  and 
sucking  the  affected  optic.  Probably  only  a  speck  had 
reached  it,  for  in  about  half-an-hour,  after  the  insertion 
of  a  few  drops  of  sweet  oil,  the  victim  had  completely 
recovered. 


XI 


MUBENDI  TO  HOIMA 

Our  new  carriers — A  chief's  house  and  garden — The  civihsation  of  the 
Baganda — System  of  feeding  carriers — Rate  of  pay — Agricultural 
development — The  cotton  industry — A  native  market — Bukumi 
mission — Elephant  grass — Our  camp — Crossing  a  swamp — Hoima — 
Ivory  poaching  in  the  Congo — A  Nubian  wedding  at  the  military 
camp — Marriage  laws  of  the  Banyoro — Land  settlement  and  com- 
munications in  the  Bunyoro  province — Missions  at  Hoima — Start  for 
Bugoma. 

An  early  rise,  our  last  breakfast  at  Mubendi,  and  we  settled 
down  to  the  work  of  allotting  our  loads  to  our  new 
carriers.  Our  incursion  into  civilisation,  the  division  of 
our  kit  necessitated  by  it,  and  the  purchase  of  new  stores 
had  disorganised  matters  a  little,  and  it  was  a  quarter  past 
ten  before  we  moved  out  on  the  trail  again,  though  our 
new  carriers  were  very  orderly  and  amenable,  and  every- 
thing went  as  smoothly  as  possible.  We  started  on  this 
stage  with  a  caravan  of  sixty-four  porters,  counting  the 
two  Wawemba  waifs  who  were  written  on  as  bicycle  boys, 
and  two  more  for  carrying  chairs,  besides  the  newly  en- 
gaged Musa  and  our  own  Rhodesian  staff  of  six,  making 
a  total  of  seventy-one. 

Our  route  to  begin  with  lay  down  the  Kampala  road, 
along  which  we  cycled,  side  by  side  for  the  first  time  since 
our  ride  from  Abercorn  to  Kawimbe.  After  a  couple  of 
miles  we  turned  off  sharp  to  the  north  on  an  excellent 
carriers'  track  some  ten  to  twelve  feet  broad,  which  had  a 
good  surface  for  cycling  and  was  particularly  well  em- 
banked in  the  swamps.  The  road  was  hilly  and  often 
made  it  necessary  to  dismount,  but  these  intervals  of  walk- 
ing were  not  too  frequent,  and  only  provided  a  welcome 
change  of  exercise.    The  soil  on  either  side  was  very 

154 


MUBENDI  TO  HOIMA 


155 


fertile  and  the  vegetation  rank  and  dense  ;  fresh  buffalo 
spoor  attracted  our  attention  a  mile  or  two  out,  but  a 
country  more  hopeless  for  this  particular  branch  of  hunt- 
ing it  would  be  hard  to  find,  and  we  went  on  without 
investigating  its  possibilities. 

After  a  couple  of  hours  we  came  to  a  group  of  villages 
under  the  local  district  chief,  Yekula.  His  own  dwelling 
was  a  fine  two-storied  building  placed  in  well-arranged 
gardens  containing  cotton,  coffee,  and  other  tropical  pro- 
ducts, all  in  a  flourishing  condition  and  surrounded  by  an 
elaborate  fence  of  plaited  reeds.  Everything  was  well 
laid  out,  and  looked  more  like  the  abode  of  a  European 
than  of  an  African  native,  though,  as  we  were  to  see  in 
the  course  of  our  wanderings,  it  was  nothing  out  of  the 
way  for  a  Muganda  chief.  The  camping-ground  was  a 
little  farther  on,  and  hard  by  some  of  the  local  Baganda 
were  engaged  in  a  fierce  argument  as  to  the  measurements 
of  a  bean-field,  an  incident  that  amused  and  interested  us, 
accustomed  as  we  were  to  none  but  the  most  haphazard 
allotment  of  gardens. 

Even  at  this  early  stage  we  were  much  impressed  by 
the  Baganda,  who  show  an  advanced  stage  of  development 
remarkable  in  a  Bantu  people  ;  and  we  continually  met 
fresh  examples  confirming  the  impression.  They  earn  large 
sums  of  money  by  the  cultivation  and  sale  of  cotton, 
coft"ee,  and  other  crops,  and  appear  not  only  to  know  the 
value  of  everything,  but  to  realise,  as  few  African  natives 
do,  that  an  article  is  worth  more  when  it  has  been  trans- 
ported for  some  distance  than  it  is  at  the  place  of  origin. 
The  feeding  of  carriers  is  simplicity  itself.  Each  man 
receives  an  allowance  of  two  cents  (roughly  a  third  of  a 
penny)  a  day  ;  and,  on  arrival  at  a  camp,  the  traveller 
sends  a  message  to  the  local  chief  informing  him  how 
many  men  he  has  to  feed,  in  response  to  which  the  chief 
collects  the  requisite  number  of  bundles  of  food,  and  brings 
them  round  at  about  sunset.  These  bundles  contain 
bananas — which  form  the  staple  food  of  the  country — 
sweet  potatoes  or  beans,  attached  to  which  are  smaller 
packets  containing  herbs,  which  serve  as  a  side-dish. 


156     THROUGH   THE   HEART  OF  AFRICA 


Unless  the  order  has  been  given  too  late,  the  food  is 
generally  brought  ready  cooked,  which  saves  the  carriers 
from  being  embarrassed  with  additional  weight  in  the 
shape  of  cook-pots.  The  average  bundles  are  worth  one 
cent  (a  sixth  of  a  penny)  each,  and  as  one  usually  con- 
tains sufficient  food  for  one  day,  the  carriers  can  often 
save  half  of  their  food  allowance. 

The  rate  of  pay  in  Uganda  is  reckoned  everywhere 
at  Rs.3.60  (4s.  8|d.)  a  month,  inclusive  of  the  food  allow- 
ance (60  cents).  This  is  as  low  as  anywhere  else  in 
Africa  ;  similar  work  in  North-Eastern  Rhodesia,  where 
labour  is  also  cheap,  costs  5s.  2d.  a  month,  of  which 
IS.  2d.  is  the  food  allowance. 

At  Mubendi  it  was  the  local  chief's  "secretary" 
who  produced  our  carriers,  with  a  complete  list  of 
their,  names,  districts,  and  chiefs,  explaining  to  us  to  which 
of  the  latter  we  should  complain  in  each  case  if  one 
deserted — a  good  example  of  the  way  in  which  the 
administrative  organisation  of  the  Baganda,  beginning 
with  a  king,  ministry,  and  parliament,  reaches  and  per- 
vades the  lower  grades  and  is  felt  in  daily  relations  with 
the  people. 

Next  to  the  general  organisation  the  most  impressive 
feature  is  the  agricultural  development  of  this  tribe,  which 
is  far  more  advanced  than  that  of  any  natives  we  en- 
countered in  other  parts.  Nevertheless,  a  country  like 
Uganda,  which  is  probably  equal  to  any  country  in  the 
world  for  the  growth  of  tropical  products  such  as  rubber, 
coffee,  cocoa,  and  sugar,  is  really  largely  wasted  even  with 
a  fairly  dense  population  possessing  exceptional  energy 
and  intelligence  ;  for  though  they  make  much,  if  not  the 
utmost  possible,  of  such  land  as  they  cultivate,  there 
remain  large  areas  eminently  suitable  for  plantations  which 
are  at  present  entirely  untouched,  and  produce  nothing 
but  elephant  grass  and  other  rank  vegetation.  No  one 
would  wish  to  hustle  a  people  who,  like  the  Baganda, 
present  a  probably  unique  opportunity  for  the  growth  of 
an  African  State,  but  it  is  a  thousand  pities  that  something 
cannot  be  done  with  the  large  areas  that  they  themselves 


Fkn'cim;  Yekti.a's  (iakden. 


Allotting  our  loads  to  carriers  at  Mubenui. 


MUBENDI  TO  HOIMA 


157 


are  unable  to  develop.  The  natives,  for  instance,  might 
be  required  to  show  a  certain  degree  of  development  or 
improvement  within  a  certain  period  in  the  land  over 
which  they  hold  rights,  failing  which  their  proprietorship 
should  lapse — a  remedy  which  we  gathered  had  long  since 
been  suggested,  but  for  some  reason  has  not  been  carried 
into  effect.  Another  point  that  suggests  itself  is  the 
possible  risk  attending  the  now  flourishing  cotton  industry. 
The  amount  of  cotton  grown  in  and  exported  from  the 
Protectorate  is  increasing  annually  by  leaps  and  bounds. 
It  is  all  grown  by  the  natives  and  sold  by  them  to  Euro- 
pean and  Indian  traders.  The  selling  price  of  the  raw 
cotton  is  not  fixed,  as  competition  has  proved  this  to  be 
impracticable,  and  so  long  as  prices  keep  up  this  will 
not  matter ;  but  unless  the  Baganda  are  even  more  re- 
markable than  they  appear  to  be,  a  sudden  fall  in  price 
might  deal  a  serious  blow  to,  if  it  did  not  actually  destroy, 
this  flourishing  industry  ;  for  a  native  who  has  grown 
accustomed  to  a  certain  high  scale  is  not  only  apt  to 
be  discouraged  at  a  drop  of,  say,  25  per  cent,  in  his 
earnings,  but  is  liable  to  suspect  that  it  is  but  the  pre- 
lude to  a  further  one,  and,  regarding  it  as  no  longer 
worth  his  while,  he  may  decline  to  continue  growing 
cotton. 

The  ordinary  laws  of  supply  and  demand  do  not 
apply  to  the  industry  of  the  Central  African  native.  As  a 
general  rule  he  wants  no  money — or  very  little.  Among 
the  Baganda  chiefs  there  are  certainly  many  who  enjoy 
a  regular  income  and  have  got  used  to  spending  it,  but 
these  derive  it  from  other  sources.  If  such  a  fall  in 
the  market  value  of  the  cotton  should  occur  it  may  prove 
necessary  to  guarantee  some  minimum  price  in  the  lean 
years  rather  than  risk  the  principal  source  of  wealth  in 
the  Protectorate. 

After  cycling  for  an  hour  and  forty  minutes  on  the 
following  day  we  came  to  a  good  native  market  under 
some  shady  trees,  where  we  found  natives  selling  bananas, 
sweet  potatoes,  kaffir  corn,  sugar-cane,  tobacco,  salt, 
lentils,  meat,  rope,  mats,  and  bark-cloth.    Of  the  last- 


158     THROUGH   THE   HEART  OF  AFRICA 


named  we  purchased  a  large  piece — chiefly  for  re-covering 
our  water-bottles — for  85  cents  (is.  id.),  our  only  other 
purchase  being  a  pint  of  lentils  for  8  cents  (a  trifle  over 
id).  Just  after  leaving  this  wayside  market  a  bad  punc- 
ture delayed  us  for  a  quarter  of  an  hour,  but  before  very 
long — after  two  hours  twenty-five  minutes  nett  cycling 
from  the  start — we  reached  a  place  which  Musa  told  us 
was  our  camp.  This  annoyed  us  somewhat,  as,  though 
we  had  been  warned  not  to  expect  too  much  from  Uganda 
carriers,  thirteen  miles  easy  going  seemed  a  trifle  too 
short.  However,  we  accepted  the  situation  for  once,  and 
decided  to  stop. 

It  certainly  was  a  comfortable  enough  camp,  with  two 
open-walled  shelters,  kitchen  hut  and  boys'  quarters,  in  a 
large  cleared  space,  in  the  centre  of  which  stood  a  roomy 
and  well-built  wattle  and  daub  building,  which  we  were 
informed  was  the  court-house  of  the  local  chief,  whose 
name  was  Eloma.  It  had  a  large  open  doorway  in  the 
front,  two  more  at  the  side,  two  or  three  smaller  compart- 
ments, while  the  principal  chamber  was  furnished  with  a 
dais  for  the  "judge's"  chair. 

Eloma  paid  a  call  upon  us  shortly  after  our  arrival, 
bringing  his  own  chair,  on  which,  after  a  greeting  and  a 
murmured  request  which  seemed  to  mean,  "  I  will  sit  down 
if  I  may,"  he  took  his  seat. 

He  was  a  most  courteous  and  intelligent  old  gentleman, 
and  after  a  few  minutes'  conversation,  in  which  he  told  us, 
in  reply  to  inquiries,  that  there  were  elephants  two  days 
ahead  of  us,  he  rose  and  took  his  leave  as  gracefully  as  he 
had  introduced  himself.  The  courtesy  and  friendliness  of 
natives  of  all  classes  was  rather  striking.  All  whom  we 
encountered  or  passed  on  the  road  greeted  us  cordially  and 
respectfully,  generally  bowing  and  bending  the  head,  and 
at  the  same  time  removing  the  fez  cap  that  is  generally 
worn.  We  saw  some  pine-apples  in  the  native  gardens, 
and  passed  some  wild  raspberry  bushes,  on  which,  how- 
ever, the  fruit  had  not  yet  formed.  The  country  was 
undulating  with  granite  kopjes  in  the  hillsides  and  very 
long  grass  even  on  the  summits  of  the  hills.    The  carriers 


The  Dwelling-house,  Bukuml 


MUBENDI  TO  HOIMA 


159 


had  mostly  been  using  an  old  road  which  was  more 
direct  though  much  more  of  a  switchback  than  the  new 
one,  while  we  used  the  latter  for  the  sake  of  its  easier 
gradients,  which  we  could  generally  manage  without  dis- 
mounting. 

The  next  morning,  after  an  hour  and  ten  minutes  alter- 
nately cycling  and  walking,  we  reached  Bukumi  Mission, 
a  post  of  the  French  Fathers,  the  existence  of  which  was 
a  surprise  to  us.  The  buildings,  which  were  erected  in 
1904,  are  of  sun-dried  bricks,  with  thatched  roofs,  and 
excellent  of  their  kind.  With  additional  excuse  of  a  fresh 
puncture  we  called  upon  the  Peres,,  and  found  ourselves 
welcomed  with  great  cordiality  by  the  Superior,  Pere 
Tomaselli  Santo,  a  missionary  of  twelve  years'  residence  in 
Uganda  who  had  been  at  Bukumi  when  it  was  besieged 
during  the  rebellion.  This  post  is  the  centre  of  a  large 
district  with  7000  baptized  natives  controlled  by  a  staff  of 
four  "  Fathers."  We  received  welcome  assistance  in  the 
shape  of  an  itinerary  as  far  as  Hoima,  and  an  equally 
welcome  gift  in  the  shape  of  a  supply  of  cabbages,  carrots, 
turnips,  and  beetroot.  An  hour  after  leaving  the  mission 
we  found  all  our  carriers  settled  down  for  the  day  at  the 
next  camping-place,  but  we  came  to  the  conclusion  that  it 
was  time  to  assert  ourselves,  and  informed  them  in  as 
simple  and  direct  a  manner  as  possible  that  we  were  only 
going  to  halt  for  lunch  and  intended  camping  at  Kauwa, 
the  place  indicated  on  Pere  Santo's  itinerary.  They  had 
already  unhitched  their  loads  and  were  making  themselves 
comfortable  for  the  rest  of  the  day,  so  our  announcement 
was  received  without  much  enthusiasm.  However,  they 
obeyed,  and  with  but  little  demur,  and  in  spite  of  our  halt 
at  the  mission  and  again  for  lunch,  we  reached  camp  by 
three  o'clock,  and  all  the  loads  were  in  before  four  :  nor 
were  any  complaints  made  at  the  length  of  the  twenty-one 
mile  trek. 

The  next  day  we  camped  at  Akanasi,  seventeen  miles 
on.  For  some  two  miles  before  reaching  it,  the  road  was 
plentifully  pitted  with  hyena  and  lion  spoor,  some  of  it 
quite  fresh,  and  we  wondered  if  we  were  going  to  have  a 


i6o     THROUGH  THE   HEART  OF  AFRICA 


chance  of  bagging  anything.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  Hons  did 
visit  us,  and  the  uneasiness  and  excitement  of  the  dogs,  who 
were  barking  and  making  occasional  rushes  at  the  long 
grass  at  the  side  of  the  camping-ground  between  nine  and 
ten  o'clock,  probably  meant  that  they  were  lurking  close  at 
hand.  However,  they  did  not  reveal  themselves,  and  it  was 
only  in  the  morning  that  we  learnt  from  the  natives  that 
during  the  night  they  had  been  heard  grunting  somewhere 
a  little  way  down  the  road,  and  that  their  fresh  spoor 
showed  them  to  have  come  right  into  the  camp  and  within 
a  few  yards  of  our  tents.  Chuma  said  there  had  been 
several  of  them,  but  he  was  probably  more  impressed  by 
the  variety  of  their  tones  than  by  the  plentifulness  of  their 
tracks.  We  protested  that  the  boys  might  have  called  us 
when  the  beasts  were  obviously  pretty  close,  but  Chuma 
seemed  to  think  that  that  was  the  very  last  thing  to  have 
done. 

It  was  at  this  camp  that  we  first  had  an  example  of  the 
ease  and  rapidity  with  which  our  carriers  erected  grass 
shelters  for  themselves,  without  the  aid  of  any  but  the 
slenderest  sticks,  and  sometimes  with  none  at  all.  With 
very  little  timber  close  at  hand  they  had  learnt  to  do 
without  it,  and  in  many  cases  made  their  little  huts  entirely 
of  grass,  framework  as  well  as  thatch.  The  grass  so  used 
is,  of  course,  the  "  elephant  grass  "  which  grows  to  a  height 
of  twenty  feet  and  more,  and  boasts  a  reed-like  stalk  on 
which  it  is  quite  possible  to  bark  the  shins.  In  some 
cases  the  tall  stalks  on  the  outer  edge  of  a  thick  clump  of 
this  grass  are  simply  pulled  together  and  tied  at  the  top, 
so  forming  a  framework  of  walls  and  roof  over  which  the 
thinner  grass  is  laid  to  form  side-screens  and  roof.  In 
other  cases  the  stalks  are  collected  and  driven  into  the 
ground  and  utilised  as  before.  Those  shelters  would  spring 
up  round  the  camp  in  a  marvellously  short  space  of  time. 
Our  camp  itself  was  usually  formed  by  placing  our  tents 
more  or  less  facing  each  other  ;  one  of  them  was  fur- 
nished with  an  extension  in  the  shape  of  an  extra  fly 
which  served  at  times  as  a  dining-room,  and  in  which  most 
of  our  spare  loads  were  stacked.    Chairs  and  tables  would 


MUBENDI  TO  HOIMA 


i6i 


be,  as  a  rule,  in  the  ^'banda" — the  reed-and-grass  shelter 
which  was  an  almost  invariable  feature  of  the  camps  and 
chiefs'  compounds  in  Uganda — while  our  tents  were  left 
as  empty  as  possible  of  everything  except  a  bed  and  a 
small  table,  boxes  containing  clothes  and  immediate  neces- 
sities, firearms  and  cameras.  Close  to  the  tents  and  the 
servants'  shelters  or  huts  was  erected  a  small  bucksail 
which  served  as  a  kitchen,  the  heavy  rains  often  making  it 
impossible  to  get  a  temporary  one  built  where  there  was 
nothing  already  in  existence. 

Between  our  two  tents  or,  if  the  wind  was  unfavourable, 
a  little  to  one  side  a  large  fire  was  lit,  and  was  supposed 
to  be  kept  burning.  If,  as  occasionally  happened,  every 
one  went  to  sleep,  it  went  out,  and  sometimes,  e.g.  in 
German  East  Africa  when  there  was  a  dearth  of  firewood, 
we  had  to  do  without  it  altogether.  Each  carrier  had  to 
contribute  his  share  of  fuel,  by  making  one  or  sometimes 
two  journeys  into  the  bush  and  returning  with  a  load  of 
sticks  or  logs.  It  would  sometimes  happen  that,  feeling  a 
little  lazy,  they  would  shirk  the  duty  and  retire  after  bring- 
ing a  dozen  logs  or  so.  This  was  easily  remedied  by  the 
simple  course  of  waiting  till  they  had  settled  down  for  the 
night,  each  group  with  its  own  fire  and  a  good  stock  of 
firewood,  and  then  going  round  with  one  or  two  of  the 
staff  and  a  "munyampala"  or  so — who  thoroughly  en- 
joyed the  job — and  transferring  their  whole  supply  to  our 
pile.  We  had  no  need,  as  a  rule,  to  do  it  more  than  once 
with  the  same  gang  of  carriers.  The  camp  fire  is  an  item 
of  no  small  importance.  Besides  affording  quite  fre- 
quently needed  warmth — especially  after  a  day's  elephant 
hunting  in  the  rain — and  a  useful  meed  of  protection 
at  night,  some  of  the  pleasantest  hours  of  the  day  are 
those  spent  lolling  in  an  easy-chair  in  its  comforting 
blaze  either  just  before  dinner  or  for  an  hour  or  so  ere 
turning  in  for  the  night. 

With  our  own  Rhodesian  staff  as  a  nucleus,  and  the 
headmen  engaged  at  different  times,  such  as  Musa,  who 
was  with  us  at  this  stage,  the  carriers  very  soon  fell  into 
the  way  of  arranging  things  according  to  our  ideas,  and 

L 


1 62    THROUGH  THE   HEART  OF  AP^RICA 


did  their  work  in  the  smooth  and  automatic  way  which  is 
so  conducive  to  camp  comfort. 

The  day  before  reaching  Hoima  we  had  to  cross  a 
bad  swamp  early  in  the  morning.  It  was  formed  by  a 
tributary  of  the  Kavu  River,  which  at  this  point  takes  a 
sharp  bend,  and  was  about  a  third  of  a  mile  across,  and 
much  too  deep  to  ford.  There  were  no  canoes,  but  we 
and  our  loads  were  ferried  across  on  rafts  made  of 
papyrus  stalks.  These  are  slow,  heavy,  and  clumsy  craft, 
but  they  have  the  advantage  of  being  comparatively  dry 
and  safe,  and  practically  non-capsizable,  besides  accom- 
modating many  more  loads  than  the  average  canoe.  The 
crossing  occupied  nearly  three  hours,  but  the  beauty  of 
the  rising  sun  dispelling  the  early  morning  mist,  and  the 
cunning  with  which  one  of  the  natives  ferried  us  across, 
helped  to  modify  the  tedium  of  delay.  This  unfortunate 
old  gentleman  had,  besides  minor  facial  mutilations, 
suffered  amputation  of  both  hands  at  the  wrist — presum- 
ably a  punishment  by  his  chief  for  some  trivial  offence  in 
his  almost  forgotten  youth — and  the  way  in  which  he 
wielded  his  punt-pole  with  his  skinny  arm  stumps,  mainly 
by  gripping  it  in  his  elbow-joint,  was  a  thing  to  admire 
and  remember. 

We  heard  hippo  grunting  somewhere  in  the  swamp, 
but  they  remained  hidden.  The  elephants  of  which 
Eloma  had  told  us  did  not  come  to  anything.  There  had 
evidently  been  plenty  of  them  crossing  and  recrossing  the 
road,  sometimes  within  a  few  hours  of  our  passing,  but  as 
the  herd  apparently  consisted  of  nothing  but  cows,  calves, 
and  small  bulls,  w^e  wasted  no  time  in  following  them.  Of 
smaller  game  we  saw  no  trace  whatever. 

Hoima,  the  administrative  centre  of  the  Bunyoro 
province,  we  reached  at  half-past  nine  on  the  30th  of 
October.  It  is  well  situated  on  high  ground,  with  hills  on 
three  sides,  and  on  the  fourth,  to  the  west,  can  be  seen  the 
mountains  of  the  Belgian  Congo,  on  the  far  side  of  the 
Albert  Nyanza,  which  is  not  itself  visible,  as  it  lies  too  low. 
We  went  up  to  call  on  the  District  Commissioner,  Mr.  T. 
Grant,  who  had  been  advised  of  our  journey  by  our 


MUBENDI   TO   HOIMA  163 

friends  at  Entebbe.  He  extended  a  cordial  welcome,  bade 
us  pitch  our  tents  close  to  his  house,  and  invited  us  to  take 
our  meals  with  him  during  our  stay.  More  than  this,  he 
at  once  set  about  making  inquiries  as  to  elephants,  and 
wrote  to  the  Assistant  District  Commissioner  at  Masindi 
asking  him  to  do  the  same. 

Without  a  map  before  them  the  majority  of  readers 
probably  do  not  realise  the  enormous  length  of  the 
eastern  border  of  the  Belgian  Congo. 

Beginning  as  it  does  on  the  west  of  Northern  Rhodesia 
far  south  of  the  points  from  which  we  had  started,  it  was 
with  something  akin  to  a  thrill  at  its  immensity  that  we 
found  ourselves  still  travelling  alongside  of  it  in  the  Hoima 
district  of  Bunyoro  in  Central  Uganda  ;  even  then  we  had 
not  reached  the  end  of  it,  as  for  more  than  sixty  miles 
farther  it  is  still  the  neighbour  of  the  Protectorate,  and 
then  inclining  west  lies  on  the  borders  of  the  Lado  province 
of  the  Soudan  for  nearly  another  two  hundred  miles. 

Its  mere  hugeness  may  supply  a  reason,  though  not 
an  adequate  one,  for  the  difficulty  of  effectively  adminis- 
tering the  territory  from  end  to  end.  That  considerable 
portions  of  it,  nominally  under  control,  are  still  hardly 
administered  at  all  is  a  matter  of  common  knowledge,  and 
it  now  made  our  mouths  water,  now  filled  us  with  shame 
to  listen  to  the  tales  that  were  told  us  of  the  opportunities 
that  lay  under  our  very  noses,  as  it  were,  for  an  enter- 
prising elephant  hunter  untroubled  with  too  scrupulous 
a  sense  of  the  fitness  of  taking  advantage  of  the  weakness 
or  apathy  of  a  neighbouring  nation.  There  seemed,  in 
fact,  to  be  little  if  any  difference  between  the  conditions 
obtaining  in  the  Congo  territory  just  west  of  Albert  Nyanza 
and  those  in  the  Lado  Enclave  after  the  lapse  of  its  tenancy 
on  the  death  of  King  Leopold  and  before  its  incorporation 
in  Soudanese  territory. 

It  was  a  happy  hunting-ground  for  all  and  sundry  who 
cared  to  try  their  luck  and  take  their  risks.  Risks  there 
were,  of  course  ;  while  some  had  made  small  fortunes, 
others  had  come  out  with  less  than  what  they  had  taken  in. 
One  successful  filibuster  had  within  the  last  twelve  months 


164    THROUGH   THE   HEART  OF  AFRICA 


obtained  some  two  and  a  half  tons  of  valuable  ivory. 
Another  who,  after  securing  nearly  as  good  a  prize,  made 
the  inexcusable  mistake  of  being  caught  by  and  compelled 
to  disgorge  his  ivory  and  his  battery  to  the  Belgian 
authorities,  returned  to  the  British  territory,  borrowed  a 
cheap  rifle,  and  within  three  days  of  his  re-entry  into 
the  Congo  had  made  good  his  losses  with  a  bag  of  seven- 
teen big  bull  elephants.  The  victim  in  this  instance 
must  either  have  shown  a  lamentable  want  of  tact  or  been 
unfortunate  in  underrating  the  calibre  of  the  dignitary 
whom  he  met,  for  there  seems  to  be  evidence  that  in 
other  cases  a  very  little  well-placed  diplomacy  has  been 
sufficient  to  soothe  the  suspicions  of  an  indignant  Belgian 
official  and  induce  him  to  turn  a  blind  eye  to  the  depre- 
dations of  his  visitors.  Yet  others,  not  content  with  their 
opportunities  in  the  role  of  sportsman-poacher,  have 
added  to  their  gains  not  only  by  trading  with  and  pur- 
chasing ivory  from  the  natives,  but  even  by  the  more 
economical  if  less  orthodox  method  of  commandeering 
ivory  and  trade  goods  from  the  hapless  emissaries  of  some 
Indian  traders  on  the  British  side,  who,  being  poachers 
themselves  in  a  territory  where  might  was  right,  had  no 
redress. 

More  recently,  it  should  be  said,  the  conditions  have 
somewhat  modified.  Prizes  are  not  secured  with  the  ease 
that  formerly  marked  a  trip  across  the  border.  But  it  is 
difficult  to  say  whether  the  reason  is  not  merely  that  the 
elephants,  which  are,  of  course,  the  chief  attraction,  have 
shifted  westwards,  and  that  the  hunter,  in  consequence, 
has  to  go  farther  afield. 

It  sounded  tantalising,  but,  after  all,  it  is  not  playing 
the  game,  and  the  Uganda  Government  is  naturally  doing 
all  in  its  power  to  discourage  the  irresponsible  free- 
booter from  ruthlessly  exploiting  its  neighbour's  weak- 
nesses. 

That  it  is  powerless  entirely  to  check  the  abuses  which, 
after  all,  it  is  somebody  else's  business  to  deal  with,  is 
sufficiently  obvious,  and  we  had  sufficient  proof  of  the 
fact  that  the  trade  in  smuggled  Congo  ivory  is  by  no 


Ferrying  our  loads  across  a  swamp  on  papyrus  rafts. 


MUBENDI  TO  HOIMA  165 


means  dormant.  An  important  firm  of  Indian  traders  at 
Hoima  told  us  that  they  were  expecting  a  caravan  of  tusks 
amounting  to  over  three  thousand  pounds'  weight  in  all, 
and  that  they  were  receiving  a  similar  consignment  about 
twice  a  month.  All  was  coming  down  the  Nile  to  Butiaba, 
the  port  on  Lake  Albert,  and  all  was  frankly  admitted  to 
be  poached  from  Congo  territory. 

The  staff  at  Hoima  station  at  the  time  of  our  visit 
consisted  of  the  District  Commissioner,  Mr.  Thomas  Grant, 
the  Medical  Officer,  Dr.  Strathairn,  with  some  subordinate 
officials,  besides  two  subalterns,  Messrs.  Trewin  and 
Carew,  officers  in  charge  of  a  detachment  of  the  King's 
African  Rifles.  This  detachment  is  a  company  of  the 
Nubian  battalion,  and  is  composed  of  natives  from  Soudanese 
territory,  who  are  entirely  distinct  in  many  salient  features 
from  the  local  population.  They  are  exceptionally  black, 
broad-faced  and  thick-lipped,  and  the  faces  of  both  men 
and  women  are  somewhat  unusually  disfigured  by  gashes 
rather  than  tattoo  marks.  The  coiffure  of  the  women  is 
quite  different  to  anything  that  we  had  seen  farther  south. 
The  hair  is  allowed  to  grow  long  at  the  back  and  curled  up  at 
the  ends  over  the  neck.  But  it  was  not  only  because  they 
presented  a  contrast  to  the  type  of  native  amongst  whom 
we  have  been  travelling  that  we  enjoyed  an  opportunity  of 
obtaining  a  glimpse  of  the  Nubian  and  his  family  at  home. 

After  dinner  with  the  officers  at  "Military  Hill"  on 
the  evening  of  our  second  day  at  Hoima,  it  was  suggested 
that  we  walk  up  to  the  camp  and  witness  a  native  dance 
that  was  forming  a  part  of  a  marriage  celebration,  and  was 
being  carried  on  for  several  days.  We  readily  accepted 
the  invitation,  and  were  presently  seated  in  small  arm- 
chairs, the  property  of  the  police,  in  an  open  space  between 
the  huts,  with  as  good  a  view  as  it  was  possible  to  obtain 
of  a  scene  that  was  only  lighted  by  a  couple  of  hurricane- 
lanthorns  and  a  very  small  fire.  For  a  time  the  dance 
proceeded  in  much  the  same  style  as  among  the  southern 
tribes  ;  the  drums,  which  beat  a  constant  accompaniment, 
were  placed  in  the  background  out  of  the  way  of  the 
dancers,  who  in  two  opposite  rows,  one  of  men,  the  other 


i66    THROUGH  THE  HEART  OF  AFRICA 


of  women,  swayed  and  shuffled  to  and  fro,  generally 
without  coming  into  actual  contact  with  one  another. 

Thus  far  the  performance  was  poor,  and  the  singing, 
provided  by  a  batch  of  little  girls  sitting  in  a  group  round 
the  drums,  of  a  most  inferior  type. 

But  presently  the  programme  changed.  The  women 
retired  from  the  line,  and  one  by  one  began  to  give  pas 
seuls  in  the  space  between  the  drums  and  the  row  of  men, 
who,  now  more  or  less  in  a  line  with  our  chairs,  kept  up 
a  swaying  stamp  of  uncouth  rhythm,  accompanying  their 
movements  with  constant  grunts.  They  struck  an  incon- 
gruous note,  the  men,  with  their  white  shirts  and  trousers 
or  "kanjus"  of  white  linen,  canvas  shoes,  and,  if  possible, 
cigarettes.  The  women  were  naturally  and  gracefully 
robed  in  flowing  cloths,  bound  tightly  round  the  breasts 
below  the  arm-pits,  but  loosening  ere  they  reached  the 
ankles.  There  were  some  six  or  eight  of  them  per- 
forming now,  finely  developed  girls  of  perhaps  twenty 
years  of  age,  with  a  magnificent  carriage  and  averaging 
rather  over  than  under  five  feet  six  inches  in  height.  Less 
coarsely  suggestive  than  the  typical  Bantu  dance,  there 
was  a  grace  and  finish  in  their  performance  which  it  is 
not  easy  to  describe. 

Beginning  some  fifteen  feet  from  the  men,  the  dancer 
stood  erect,  her  head  thrown  back,  with  her  draperies  held 
close  to  her  side  with  one  hand.  Then  by  almost  im- 
perceptible shuffling  she  gradually  approached  her  vis-a- 
vis— the  man  at  whom  she  had  selected  to  dance — her 
whole  frame  rippling  with  unceasing  sinuous  movements 
that  must  have  exercised  every  muscle  in  her  body.  As 
she  drew  to  within  an  arm's  length  the  shuffling  ceased  ; 
the  back  was  gradually  more  and  more  hollowed  and  the 
body  curved  further  and  further  till  the  head  was 
almost  on  a  level  with  the  buttocks.  At  this  point  she 
made  a  momentary  pause,  during  which  her  vis-d-vts 
stepped  forward  and,  with  a  flourish,  touched  her  lightly 
on  the  breast,  murmuring,  "Allub" — a  word  of  en- 
couragement, compliment,  or  approval.  Thereupon  she 
straightened  herself  once  more,  shuffled  sinuously  on  till 


MUBENDI  TO  HOIMA 


167 


almost  touching  her  objective,  when,  suddenly  but  grace- 
fully, she  sank  in  a  mixture  of  prostration  and  abandon  in 
a  kneeling  heap  upon  the  ground.  The  man  she  was 
dancing  at  then  promptly  touched  her  once  more — this 
time  as  if  raising  her — upon  the  breast,  saying,  "Ashmeer 
Bilkeer "  (apparently  meaning  something  like  "  You  are 
the  girl  for  me  "),  and,  rising,  the  girl  quietly  returned  to 
her  place,  and  her  performance  was  at  an  end. 

We  each  and  all  of  us  were  danced  at  three  or  four 
times,  and  did  our  best  to  make  the  right  remark  at  the 
right  time,  for  the  failure  to  do  so  implies  a  slight  upon 
the  efficiency  or  charms  of  the  dancer. 

The  marriage  customs  and  morals  of  these  natives 
present  another  contrast  to  those  of  the  tribes  of 
Northern  Rhodesia  and  kindred  races.  Nubian  girls, 
unlike  those  of  the  average  Bantu  peoples,  are  not,  as  a 
rule,  married  until  they  have  well  passed  the  age  of 
puberty,  and  during  their  earlier  years  their  chastity  is 
jealously  guarded.^  The  dowries,  moreover,  paid  by  the 
husbands  for  their  wives  are  considerable,  and  sometimes 
amount  to  very  large  sums.  We  heard  of  one  native  non- 
commissioned officer  having  given  as  much  as  a  thousand 
rupees  for  his  bride,  while  there  was  a  rumour  that  in 
another  case  the  sum  had  reached  fifteen  hundred. 

In  the  Baganda  and,  to  a  lesser  extent,  the  Banyoro, 
we  have  an  instance  of  Bantu  tribes  pure  and  simple,  who 
contrast  favourably  with  many  of  the  southern  tribes. 
There  is  little  doubt  that  their  greater  intelligence  and  the 
higher  social  organisation  already  in  existence  before  the 
establishment  of  British  protectorate  has  rendered  easier 
to  combat  the  demoralisation  that  is  so  likely  to  occur 
among  undeveloped  natives  whose  affairs  are  in  a  state  of 
rather  violent  transition,  but  the  facts  are  none  the  less 
interesting  or  instructive.  Though  not  so  high  as  among 
the  Nubians,  the  marriage  price  is  considerable  and  regu- 

^  In  primo  juventutis  flore  labia  majora  puellarum  liganiento  consuta  nil  nisi 
angustissimum  meatum  relinqiiunt ;  itaque  illis  in  matrimonii  mysteria  inductis 
post  primam  noctem  conjux,  e  thalamo  emergens,  ut  argumentum  virginitatis  ejus 
ligamentum  sanguinolentum  ostendit.  Si  tamen  vir  ligamentum  ante  nuptias  dis- 
ruptum  invenit,  femina  pro  incasta  statim  demissa,  aliam  conjugem  plerumque 
postulat. 


i68    THROUGH  THE   HEART  OF  AFRICA 


larly  paid,  and  satisfactory  proof  of  the  regularity  of  a 
marriage  contract,  whether  according  to  native,  Mahom- 
medan,  or  Christian  law,  has  to  be  produced  before  it  is 
recognised  as  valid  for  any  purpose  whatsoever. 

One  cannot  help  contrasting  this  with  the  practice  of 
the  Wawemba  and  their  kin.  While  the  "  dowry  "  seldom 
amounts  to  more  than  a  few  shillings'  worth  of  goods  and 
ornaments,  as  often  as  not  so-called  marriages  are  a  matter 
of  mutual  arrangement  between  the  man  and  the  woman 
without  reference  to  or  even  the  approval  of  any  one  who 
might  consider  themselves  concerned. 

It  follows  as  a  matter  of  course  that  divorce  or  separa- 
tion is  a  matter  of  equally  easy  arrangement,  and  that 
"  marriage  "  is  liable  to  degenerate  into  nothing  more  than 
licensed  but  haphazard  concubinage. 

This  has  not,  of  course,  been  always  so,  and  it  is  only 
fair  to  these  tribes  to  bear  in  mind  that  in  former  times 
certain  sanctions  and  conventions  were  regularly  and 
strictly  observed. 

The  Government  generally  is,  of  course,  taking  steps 
to  discourage  and  prevent  the  irregularity  that  has  recently 
begun  to  mark  connubial  relations,  but  there  can  be  no 
doubt  that  this  irregularity  is,  to  a  very  great  degree,  the 
indirect  result  of  the  substitution  of  the  white  man's 
government  for  that  of  the  native  chiefs  and  headmen. 

The  latter  have  rather  naturally  been  unable  to  realise 
that  the  loss  of  most  of  their  administrative  and  judicial 
powers  were  not  intended  to  involve  the  destruction  of 
their  authority  in  social  and  domestic  matters,  and  the 
mistake  has  been  made  of  regarding  these  matters  as  being 
none  of  the  white  man's  business.  Since  the  cession  of 
their  powers  to  British  authority,  the  chiefs  have  mostly 
regarded  every  detail  of  their  lives  and  social  relations  as 
the  white  man's  business,  and  if  therefore  we  hesitate  to 
assume  the  censorship  of  any  part  of  their  conduct  which 
they  have  given  up,  the  inevitable  result  is  irregularity  and 
demoralisation. 

Particularly  likely  is  this  to  occur  in  the  case  of  tribes 
such    as  the  Wawemba,  whose  chiefs   exercised  such 


MUBENDI  TO  HOIMA 


169 


arbitrary  control  over  the  inter-marriage  of  their  subjects. 
Except  in  the  case  of  chiefs  and  their  famihes,  a  male 
Muwemba  had  no  choice  in  the  matter  of  marriage.  On 
reaching  the  age  at  which  he  thought  he  would  like  to  wed, 
his  only  course  was  to  apply  to  the  chief,  who,  if  he 
approved,  would  look  out  for  a  suitable  bride  for  the 
applicant  amongst  his  people.  The  would-be  bridegroom 
did  not  even  go  as  far  as  to  mention  any  particular  indi- 
vidual as  suiting  his  taste.  It  is  sufficiently  obvious  that 
the  disappearance  of  this  ultra-paternal  power  of  the  chiefs, 
who  have  relinquished  it  without  coercion  or  protest,  needs 
to  be  followed  by  a  definite  and  effective  system  of  control, 
if  the  prevention  of  moral  laxity  and  social  degeneration 
is  to  be  secured.^ 

The  methods  adopted  may  in  time  have  the  desired 
effect,  but  it  is  at  least  interesting  to  notice  the  difference 
in  the  conditions  prevailing  where  the  old  social  system 
has  been  encouraged  and  developed  and  where  it  has 
first  of  all  been  simply  allowed  to  slide. 

While  at  Hoima  we  learnt  something  of  the  local 
conditions  of  land  purchase  and  the  prospects  for  settlers, 
which  impressed  us  as  being  far  more  favourable  than  these 
obtaining  in  Buganda.  The  former,  the  Bunyoro  pro- 
vince, suffers  from  the  fact  that  it  lies  farther  from  the 
Victoria  Nyanza,  which,  with  its  steamers  and  outlet  by  the 
Uganda  railway,  is  easily  accessible  to  the  outside  world, 
but  the  disadvantages  under  which  it  labours  in  this  respect 
are  being  rapidly  reduced.  The  motor  road  to  Mubendi 
is  already  close  to  its  southern  borders,  and  another  from 
Kampala  to  Hoima  is  projected,  while  the  Jinja-Kakindu 
railway  is  in  course  of  construction.  This  railway  starts 
at  Jinja  by  the  Ripon  Falls,  and  will  go  to  Kakindu  at  the 
south  end  of  Lake  Chioga,  where  navigable  water  is  again 
met  with.  Steamers  already  run  from  this  point  to 
Kishilisi  (Port    Masindi),  near  the    abandoned  Maruli 

^  So  in  South  Africa  also.  "The  clan  system  took  in  hand  the  regulation  of 
the  intercourse  of  the  sexes,  and  until  Europeans  broke  up  the  clan  system  this 
restraint  was  wonderfully  effective  within  certain  limits" — Dudley  Kidd,  Kafir 
Socialism.  Cf.  also :  "  There  is  need  of  the  utmost  caution  not  to  provoke 
•unrest  and  discontent  by  rooting  up  prevaihng  systems  until  the  native  mind  is 
prepared  and  effective  substitutes  are  in  readiness  " — Sir  Godfrey  Lagden. 


lyo     THROUGH  THE   HEART  OF  AFRICA 


station,  to  Palango  and  Foweira,  near  which  the  navigable 
waters  are  again  interrupted  by  rapids  which  culminate  in 
the  Murchison  Falls.  A  motor  road  is  being  built  from 
Kishilisi  to  Masindi,  and  this  will  be  carried  on  to  Hoima, 
giving  an  easy  outlet  to  the  produce  of  a  large  section  of 
the  Bunyoro  province.  It  is  further  hoped  to  carry  on  the 
rail  and  river  connection  from  a  point  near  Foweira  to 
Fajao  or  Butiaba,  whence  steamers  already  run  to  Nimule, 
on  the  Bahr  el  Gebel,  and  thence  no  doubt  a  further  line 
will  be  laid  down  to  connect  with  the  Soudan  steamers  at 
Gondokoro.  The  cost  of  these  connecting  railroads  is 
estimated  at  -^4000  per  mile. 

The  undoubted  intention  of  the  Government  to  im- 
prove communications  in  this  part  removes  from  the 
intending  planter  all  fears  that  he  will  be  unable  to  export 
his  produce,  and  the  only  remaining  considerations  are  the 
quality  of  the  land,  rainfall,  labour  supply,  &c.,  and  the 
terms  on  which  he  can  acquire  the  land.  In  the  course 
of  the  two  and  a  half  months  following  our  arrival  in 
Bunyoro,  we  travelled  incessantly  in  the  province,  and 
formed  a  very  favourable  impression  of  it.  The  soil  is 
indisputably  fertile,  the  rainfall  adequate,  and  labour  cheap 
and  easily  obtained.  Cattle  appear  to  thrive,  and  we  saw 
no  tsetse  except  close  to  the  Victoria  Nile  opposite 
Palango.  The  climate  is  by  no  means  unhealthy.  In  all 
of  these  respects  it  compares  not  unfavourably  with  the 
Buganda  province  ;  and  in  the  matter  of  land  purchase 
it  is  far  superior.  Land  in  Bunyoro  is  Crown  land,  and 
freehold  can  be  granted  to  planters.  Instead  of  the  many 
difficulties  that  a  planter  has  to  contend  with  before 
obtaining  a  grant  in  Buganda,  and  then  only  obtaining  it 
on  a  99-year  lease,  land  can  be  acquired — first  on  a  lease 
for  three  years,  for  which  ten  cents  per  acre  per  annum  is 
charged  ;  and  then,  if  the  Government  is  satisfied  with  the 
development  shown,  it  will  be  sold  outright  at  Rs.2  per 
acre,  so  that  the  total  cost  to  the  purchaser  will  be  Rs.2. 30 
(about  3s.  id.)  per  acre.  Under  these  circumstances  it 
seems  that  a  planter  would  do  better  to  buy  land  in 
Bunyoro  than  to  rent  it  in  Buganda. 


MUBENDI  TO   HOIMA  171 

We  called  one  afternoon  on  the  Peres  Blancs,  whose 
mission  is  about  a  mile  and  a  half  from  the  District  Com- 
missioner's house.  The  buildings  are  of  their  usual  sun- 
dried  brick,  plastered  white,  resting  on  a  foundation  of 
ironstone.  The  dwelling-house  is  a  new  and  well-con- 
structed building,  but  the  church  struck  us  as  inferior  to 
those  at  Ngaya  and  Bukumi. 

The  Father  Superior  was  absent,  but  we  were  enter- 
tained by  Pere  Bidourin,  a  French  Canadian,  and  chatted 
with  him  for  half-an-hour,  the  conversation  being  mostly 
upon  the  usual  Hoima  topic — ivory  poachers.  Hearing 
of  our  plans,  he  kindly  promised  to  send  a  message  to  his 
native  catechist  in  Bugoma  instructing  him  to  supply  us 
with  vegetables  while  we  were  in  that  locality. 

The  station  of  the  Church  Missionary  Society,  a  few 
miles  out  of  Hoima,  we  unfortunately  had  no  time  to 
visit. 

On  November  ist  we  took  up  the  trail  once  more, 
going  in  a  south-westerly  direction  to  the  Bugoma  forest 
and  the  Albert  Nyanza,  as  it  appeared  from  information 
collected  by  Mr.  Grant  that  we  should  have  a  better 
chance  of  big  elephants  in  that  locality  than  elsewhere. 
We  were  accompanied  by  a  local  hunter,  Duawiri,  and  two 
friends  of  his.  Our  loads  left  at  8  A.M.  for  the  first  camp, 
twelve  miles  out,  and  we  ourselves  started  on  our  bicycles 
at  ten,  being  very  pleased  at  the  thought  of  getting  in 
touch  with  elephants  once  more — an  elation  that  was  more 
than  shared  by  our  hunter,  Chumamaboko,  who  had  been 
wondering  if  we  should  ever  reach  the  elephant  country 
of  which  we  had  told  him.  We  added  a  local  cook  and 
a  personal  boy  to  our  staff,  so  that  by  working  with  our 
Rhodesian  servants  they  could  get  accustomed  to  our 
habits  by  the  time  the  latter  left  us  for  their  homes,  which 
was  probably  going  to  be  on  December  9th  at  Butiaba, 
on  our  embarking  for  Nimule. 


XII 


ELEPHANT  HUNTING  NEAR  THE  ALBERT 

NYANZA 

The  "Kabaka"  of  Bunyoro — Heavy  rain — The  Bugoma  forest — 
Colobus  monkeys — Death  of  our  dogs — After  elephant  in  "elephant 
grass" — Helplessness  of  the  hunter  Duawiri — The  Albert  Nyanza — 
Our  first  elephant — A  wet  night — Example  of  native  stupidity — An 
important  change  in  our  projected  itinerary — More  elephants  near 
the  lake— A  big  one  wounded  and  lost — More  blank  days  in  diffi- 
cult country — The  forest  hog — A  herd  of  elephants  bogged  in  a 
stream — Return  to  Hoima. 

Cycling  leisurely,  and  walking  up  the  hills,  which  were 
numerous,  as  the  road  was  a  remarkably  good  imitation  of 
a  switchback,  we  reached  our  camp,  Kikubi,  in  two  and 
a  quarter  hours.  Luckily  there  was  a  good  handa  at  the 
camp  in  which  we  could  shelter,  for  we  only  arrived  just 
before  a  heavy  fall  of  rain,  which  lasted  most  of  the  after- 
noon and  a  part  of  the  night.  While  sitting  in  the  banda 
after  lunch,  a  native  arrived  bearing  a  letter  from  the  re- 
presentative of  the  Kabaka  (king)  of  Bunyoro — the  Kabaka 
himself  being  absent — stating  that  the  bearer  had  been 
sent  to  accompany  us  during  our  wanderings  in  Bugoma, 
as  he  knew  the  country  and  people,  and  would  be  able  to 
assist  us  in  obtaining  information  and  in  the  purchase  of 
food  for  ourselves  and  our  carriers.  This  was  an  entirely 
spontaneous  and  voluntary  act  of  courtesy  on  the  part  of 
the  Kabaka  which  proved  of  no  small  benefit  to  us. 

The  title  "  King  "  is  accorded  to  the  Kabaka  of  Bunyoro 
as  it  is  to  his  more  important  neighbour  in  the  south,  the 
Kabaka  of  Buganda.  It  is  not  altogether  inappropriate,  as 
some  distinctive  title  is  necessary  to  differentiate  between 
the  more  important  rulers  and  ordinary  chiefs.    The  king 

of  Bunyoro,  like  the  king  of  Buganda,  has  a  verj'  consider- 

17s 


ELEPHANT   HUNTING  173 

able  revenue,  part  of  which  (including  a  percentage  of  the 
poll-tax)  he  receives  from  the  Government,  and  part  from 
a  rent  of  Rs.2  per  hut  per  annum  paid  him  by  all  the 
Banyoro,  besides  ivory,  royalties  on  salt,  and  other  forms 
of  tribute.  He  lives  in  excellently  constructed  brick  and 
iron  buildings,  and  is  an  enlightened  ruler  on  a  distinctly 
higher  plane  than  the  ordinary  tribal  chief.  He  travels 
about  in  considerable  state,  as  we  ourselves  had  an  oppor- 
tunity of  observing  on  the  occasion  of  our  second  visit  to 
Hoima. 

We  also  saw  his  dancers  on  our  return,  weird  skin-clad 
performers  who  stood  on  their  heads,  beating  time  with 
their  feet,  and  accompanied  by  discordant  noises  blown 
upon  cow  horns. 

On  the  third  day  out  we  entered  the  Bugoma  forest, 
after  a  journey  of  no  particular  incident,  except  that  on 
the  second  night  an  exceptionally  heavy  shower  nearly 
swept  away  one  of  our  tents.  They  had  been  pitched  on 
a  slight  slope,  and  trenches  had  been  dug  on  all  sides  as  a 
precaution  against  rain.  The  higher  of  the  two  tents  was 
sufficiently  protected,  but  the  double  stream  of  water 
swept  round  it  with  such  force  that,  uniting  between  it  and 
the  lower  one,  it  filled  up  the  next  line  of  ditches  and 
swept  over  them  and  into  and  through  the  tent  in  a  stream 
of  some  four  feet  wide  and  two  or  three  inches  deep.  It 
was  a  most  complete  swamping,  and  everything  that  could 
float  was  floating,  but  fortunately  there  was  nothing  par- 
ticularly perishable  on  the  ground. 

The  Bugoma  forest  is  of  the  type  known  as  primeval ; 
the  densest  of  jungle,  with  big  trees  rising  to  an  im- 
mense height  to  seek  the  light,  a  tangle  of  creepers,  and  a 
soft  spongy  surface  of  the  decomposed  vegetation,  through 
which  courses  many  a  cool,  clear  stream,  now  sparkling 
in  some  shaft  of  light  that  penetrated  the  forest  gloom,  now 
lurking  in  deep,  dark  pools  that  have  the  limpid  clearness 
of  a  rain-pond  in  some  moorland  peat-hag,  but  framed 
with  the  dark,  dead  green  of  the  sunless  forest. 

When  we  stood  on  the  edge  of  it,  looking  down  from 
the  rank  grass  and  scrub  into  its  uncanny  darkness,  we 


174     THROUGH  THE   HEART  OF  AFRICA 

thought  that  we  might  find  in  this  forest  the  steaming 
hot-house  heat  that  so  often  spoils  one's  march  through 
tropical  jungle,  but  our  fears  were  groundless  ;  for  leaving 
the  bright  glare  of  an  almost  overpowering  sun,  we  stepped 
directly  into  a  cool,  even  chilly  atmosphere,  and  a  gloom 
that  was  so  intense  and  impressive  in  its  dark  stillness  that 
unconsciously  one  spoke  in  whispers,  as  does  the  traveller 
when,  leaving  some  crowded  thoroughfare,  with  the  dazzling 
white  of  its  pavements  and  of  its  dust,  he  enters  the  doors 
of  some  old  cathedral,  and,  standing  with  bared  head,  waits 
till  the  eyes  have  grown  accustomed  to  the  sombre  light. 
And  indeed  the  similarity  is  not  unreal,  for  in  both  cases 
the  senses  are  impressed  by  the  change  from  bright  sun 
and  objects  of  ordinary  size  to  dim  light  and  impres- 
sive massiveness — an  idea  that  doubtless  inspired  the 
mediaeval  architects  of  our  great  religious  buildings  which 
have  served  for  centuries  not  only  as  houses  of  prayer 
and  praise,  but  as  havens  for  many  a  tired  worker's  quiet 
meditation  and  refreshing,  though  momentary,  rest  from 
the  stress  and  turmoil  of  the  outside  world. 

The  presence  of  elephant  spoor  soon  dispelled  any 
sombre  feelings  that  the  unaccustomed  solemnity  of  the 
scene  had  produced  in  our  minds,  but  the  examination 
of  the  bruised  blades  of  grass  where  the  herds  had  forced 
their  way  through  the  tangled  vegetation  or  slipped  down 
the  slimy  forest  slopes,  showed  that  though  the  leaves  and 
boughs  torn  off  in  their  passage  were  still  green  and 
moist,  owing  to  the  damp,  cool  atmosphere,  the  spoor  was 
far  from  fresh.  We  were  cheered  a  few  minutes  later 
by  the  sight  of  a  family  of  chattering  colobus  monkeys 
sitting  in  the  topmost  limbs  of  the  lofty  trees,  and  spring- 
ing with  wonderful  agility  from  bough  to  bough.  We 
had  hoped  for  an  opportunity  of  acquiring  one  or  two  of 
these  creatures'  beautiful  skins,  and  secured  three  speci- 
mens. After  lunching  in  a  lovely  glade  while  Chumama- 
boko  and  Musa  skinned  our  victims,  we  went  on  our  way 
and  reached  our  camp  at  Daudi's  after  five  hours'  nett 
travelling.  It  had  been  slow  walking  all  the  way — for 
cycHng  had  been  quite  impracticable — and  most  of  our 


The  Kabaka's  Dancers. 


ELEPHANT  HUNTING 


175 


carriers  took  nine  hours  and  a  quarter  for  the  fifteen  miles, 
averaging  a  mile  in  thirty-eight  minutes.  No  wonder  that 
fifteen  miles  is  considered  a  long  day's  trek  in  Uganda. 
The  day  before  reaching  Kasama,  at  the  commencement 
of  the  journey,  some  Wawemba  carriers  took  but  little 
longer  to  cover  thirty  miles. 

This  march  brought  us  to  within  four  miles  of 
Muhemba's,  which  we  intended  to  make  our  headquarters  ; 
and  sending  Chumamaboko,  Nkamba,  and  Musa  with 
Duawiri  and  his  companions  to  find  out  anything  they 
could  about  elephants,  we  moved  on  there  the  next  day. 
Here  we  received  a  supply  of  potatoes  and  cabbages  from 
the  Mission  catechist,  more  potatoes,  pine-apples,  pawpaws 
and  bananas  from  Muhemba  himself,  besides  plenty  of 
food  for  carriers,  the  chief  producing  175  bundles  at  half 
a  cent  and  one  cent  each  that  night.  Sheep,  too,  were 
obtainable  at  Rs.2,  so  we  congratulated  ourselves  on  having 
found  so  good  a  place  at  which  to  camp,  but  our  enjoy- 
ment of  it  was  not  a  little  marred  by  the  death  of  both 
our  remaining  dogs,  "Jock"  and  "  Nyunshi,"  from  tick 
fever,  the  latter  being  put  out  of  her  misery  when  recovery 
seemed  hopeless.  They  had  been  good  friends  to  each 
other,  as  well  as  faithful  companions  to  us,  and  were 
buried,  as  they  had  lived,  side  by  side. 

Chumamaboko  returned  about  8  p.m.,  and  cheered 
us  with  a  report  that  he  had  seen  some  good  elephants  to 
the  north.  He  seemed  confident  that  they  were  worth 
finding,  so  we  started  at  dawn  in  the  following  morning, 
and  after  a  little  less  than  three  hours  arrived  at  a  small 
village,  in  the  gardens  adjoining  which  the  herd  had  been 
feeding  the  previous  night. 

We  lost  no  time  in  taking  up  the  spoor,  but  had  as 
heartbreaking  and  blank  a  day  as  it  had  ever  been  our 
lot  to  endure.  The  country  was  an  endless  waste  of  rank 
tangled  elephant  grass,  twenty  to  twenty-five  feet  in 
height,  and  all  but  impenetrable.  Had  we  come  on  a 
herd  it  would  have  been  impossible  to  pick  out  the  bulls, 
much  more  to  see  their  tusks,  for  it  would  have  been 
necessary  to  approach  to  within  a  yard  to  see  anything 


176     THROUGH  THE   HEART  OF  AFRICA 


at  all.  It  was  only  at  rare  intervals  that  even  in  the 
elephant  paths  one  could  see  a  man  ten  yards  away  ;  off 
their  tracks  one  could  see  nothing  at  all  but  the  ever- 
lasting "  grass."  There  were  very  few  trees  from  which 
we  could  survey  the  surrounding  country,  and  no  ant-hills. 
This  kind  of  jungle  was  not  altogether  unfamiliar  to  us  ; 
we  had  often  come  across  it  when  hunting  elephant  and 
buffalo  in  our  own  country,  but  there  it  exists  in  relatively 
small  patches  (known  as  chipia  by  the  natives)  dotted 
about  a  fairly  easy  country,  but  here  there  was  nothing 
else  ;  it  seemed  interminable.  The  sun  was  oppressively 
hot,  there  was  not  a  breath  of  wind,  and  after  five  hours 
of  what  would  have  been  hard  enough  going  in  any  con- 
ditions, without  coming  up  with  the  herd,  we  had  had 
enough  of  it,  and  returned  to  camp  at  three  o'clock. 
There  we  had  the  doubtful  consolation  of  learning  that 
the  elephants  had  passed  behind  us  some  hours  earlier, 
crossing  our  own  tracks,  and  had  moved  in  the  direction 
of  Muhemba's. 

Even  one  day  was  enough  to  show  us  the  utter  useless- 
ness  and  incompetence  of  our  new  hunter,  Duawiri. 
On  the  few  occasions  when  he  roused  himself  sufficiently 
to  simulate  interest  in  his  work,  he  would  invariably 
differ  with  Chumamaboko  as  to  which  tracks  to  follow, 
but  being  as  invariably  wrong,  he  soon  gave  up  the 
pretence.  When,  at  a  brief  halt,  Chumamaboko  and  some 
local  natives  went  reconnoitring  for  fresh  clues,  he 
crowned  his  general  ineptitude  by  lying  down  and  going 
to  sleep.  As  we  were  satisfied  that  he  was  less  help  than 
hindrance,  we  let  him  sleep. 

The  next  morning  while  retracing  our  steps  to 
Muhemba's  we  met  a  few  villagers,  waiting  on  the  path 
to  intercept  us,  who  told  us  that  some  elephants  had 
passed  through  their  gardens  in  the  night,  and  had  been 
seen  the  same  morning  in  quite  short  grass.  They 
seemed  to  know  something  about  elephants  and  elephant 
hunting,  so,  sending  our  tents  and  other  gear  on  to 
Muhemba's,  we  struck  off  to  the  west  in  the  direction 
from  which  they  had  come.    Words  fail  one  to  describe 


ELEPHANT   HUNTING  177 

the  tangle  through  which  we  toiled  at  a  rate  of  a  mile  and 
a  half  per  hour.  For  some  two  hours  the  going  was 
even  worse  than  on  the  preceding  day.  Then,  to  our 
intense  relief,  we  emerged  into  a  large  open  plain  clothed 
with  fine  grass  that  was  not  more  than  six  feet  high.  Far 
below  us,  stretching  right  across  the  western  horizon^ 
were  the  beautiful  blue  waters  of  the  Albert  Nyanza, 
backed  by  the  cloud-strewn  purple  mountains  of  the 
Congo  on  the  far  side.  Great  granite  boulders,  from 
which  we  gained  magnificent  views  of  the  lake,  rose  like 
islands  in  the  sea  of  grass.  But  a  little  later  when  stand- 
ing on  one  of  these  we  discerned  that  the  whole  slope 
below  us  was  dotted  with  elephants,  some  standing  singly, 
some  in  groups,  the  tops  of  their  backs  being  visible 
above  the  yellow  grass.  North  and  west  were  bunches 
of  cows  and  calves,  the  latter  playing  restlessly,  the  former 
occasionally  rousing  themselves  from  their  midday  lethargy 
to  rebuke  the  exuberance  of  their  offspring,  or  raising 
their  trunks  to  call  shrilly  for  a  missing  youngster. 

On  a  ridge  to  our  left,  towards  the  south,  were 
several  bulls  bringing  up  the  rear  of  the  herd.  Three 
or  four  of  them  seemed  fair-sized  animals — they  were 
moving  drowsily  along,  each  contented  with  his  own 
society ;  while  two  younger  bulls  were  carrying  on  a 
playful  light,  untroubled  by  the  heat  of  the  day,  and  be- 
tween them  and  the  main  body  were  perhaps  a  dozen 
others  whose  size  was  a  matter  for  conjecture.  The 
whole  herd  must  have  stretched  over  a  distance  of  nearly 
two  miles. 

For  two  hours  we  watched  their  every  movement 
through  our  glasses,  moving  from  one  point  of  vantage 
to  another  ;  unable  to  decide  which,  if  any,  were  worth 
going  after,  now  and  again  resting  our  eyes  with  a  look 
at  the  unrivalled  view  of  the  lake  that  lay  before  us. 
Finally  we  came  to  the  conclusion  that  two  of  the  bulls 
in  some  thick  vegetation  to  the  south  were  the  best — the 
farthest  of  all  and  the  fourth  from  him — and,  making  our 
way  towards  them,  approached  the  nearer  of  the  two  that 
we  had  selected.    Duawiri  and  all  the  locals  except  Musa 

M 


178    THROUGH  THE  HEART  OF  AFRICA 


we  left  behind.  The  former  expert  had  actually  pro- 
posed that  we  should  leave  the  isolated  bulls  alone  and 
go  after  the  main  herd.  As  it  was  obviously  composed 
of  cows  and  small  bulls  (and  was  down  wind  to  boot), 
his  object  could  only  have  been  to  get  us  into  a  mess 
which  might  have  resulted  in  our  wounding  two  or  three 
of  them,  to  be  picked  up  later  by  the  natives.  A  more 
barefaced  suggestion  we  had  never  heard.  Though  we 
got  quite  close  to  the  bull  it  was  some  time  before  we 
could  see  his  tusks — short  thick  ones  of  about  50  lbs. 
a  piece.  After  a  good  look  at  him  from  the  top  of  a 
convenient  tree,  Chumamaboko  declared  that  the  more 
southerly  elephant  had  better  ivory,  so  we  moved  on, 
and  were  lucky  in  finding  a  large  granite  boulder  which 
gave  a  moderately  good  view  of  his  ear  and  shoulder. 
We  had  drawn  lots  to  decide  who  should  begin,  and  the 
winner  (Cholmeley)  decided  to  try  the  brain  shot  with 
his  double  .360,  though  our  rock  was  sixty  yards  from 
the  quarry.  The  other  stood  by  with  his  double  .450 
ready  to  put  in  a  right  and  left  in  the  shoulder  in  case 
the  first  shot  failed  to  bring  him  down.  We  waited  no 
longer  than  was  necessary  for  a  steady  aim,  and  then 
the  .360  rang  out  and  the  elephant  toppled  over,  getting 
a  .450  bullet  in  the  side  of  his  face  by  the  ear  as  he  fell. 
Not  a  single  step  did  he  move,  but  w'e  doubted  if  the 
first  shot  had  reached  the  brain  direct,  as  he  fell  sideways 
and  gave  a  defiant  trumpet-call  as  he  reached  the  ground. 
It  had  got  him,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  in  the  ear-hole,  while 
the  other  had  entered  a  little  further  forward  and  came 
out  at  the  forehead,  and  he  was  quite  dead  when  we  got 
up  to  him.  He  measured  10  ft.  4  in,  at  the  shoulder  ; 
the  tusks  measured  66 1  in.  and  64^  in.  total,  and  39  in. 
and  37  in.  outside  measurement,  with  a  girth  of  16^  in., 
and  weighed  465  lbs.  and  46  lbs.  He  was  rather  disappoint- 
ing, but  we  were  glad  to  have  made  a  beginning,  and  con- 
soled ourselves  by  hoping  for  better  luck  next  time.  As 
it  was  by  this  time  two  o'clock,  we  sent  Musa  to  fetch 
our  luncheon  baskets,  which  we  had  left  a  mile  behind 
us,  and  to  despatch  two  of  our  local  village  guides  to 


Our  first  elephant. 


ELEPHANT  HUNTING 


179 


Muhemba's  to  bring  along  our  tents  and  camp  gear. 
Within  an  hour  the  luncheon  baskets  had  arrived,  but  so 
had  all  the  natives  who  had  remained  behind.  Wondering 
who  had  been  sent  with  our  message,  we  called  Musa. 

"  You  have  presumably  sent  off  some  men  to  Muhem- 
ba's ?  "  we  asked. 

"  No,"  he  replied,  "  they  have  not  gone." 

"  Why  on  earth  not  ?  We  told  you  to  send  a  couple 
of  men  back  to  the  village  to  fetch  our  tents  and  gear, 
and  you  say  they  have  not  gone." 

"  Well,"  he  said,  it  was  Duawiri  who  stopped  them 
going.    I  told  them  to  go," 

Somewhat  amazed  at  the  latest  eccentricity  on  the 
part  of  our  erratic  expert,  we  asked  him  to  explain. 

Oh,"  he  replied  airily,  "  when  the  white  man  shoots 
an  elephant  he  goes  back  to  the  village  where  he  slept. 
He  does  not  camp  in  the  bush." 

A  homicidal  impulse  all  but  overpowered  us,  but  we 
made  an  effort,  succeeded  in  keeping  fairly  cool,  and, 
with  a  big  breath, 

"Whatever  any  other  white  man,"  we  retorted,  "who 
has  been  unfortunate  or  imbecile  enough  to  be  guided  by 
your  counsels  may  have  done  or  left  undone  under  these 
or  any  other  circumstances  does  not  interest  us  in  the 
very  least.  We  thought  we  had  made  ourselves  clear 
that  we  intend  to  camp  where  we  are,  and  we  shall  be 
grateful  if  in  the  future  you  will  refrain  from  taking  upon 
yourself  to  improve  our  programme  according  to  any 
ideas  of  your  own." 

"  Oh,  well,  just  as  you  like,  of  course,  but  there  is  no 
water  nearer  than  the  lake,  and  none  of  the  men  will 
have  any  food." 

"  As  to  the  food,"  we  said,  "  there  is  enough  of  that 
elephant  for  a  couple  of  hundred  starving  hyenas ;  and 
as  for  water,  you  have  not  looked,  and  we  will  bet  you 
six  months'  pay  to  a  pinch  of  salt  that  you  are  wrong." 

To  do  him  justice,  he  did  not  behave  as  if  he  expected 
to  acquire  sudden  wealth,  and  indeed  we  did  not  have  to 
pay.    Water  was  found  within  five  minutes'  walk. 


i8o    THROUGH  THE   HEART  OF  AFRICA 


He  was  not,  however,  in  the  least  upset  by  our 
attempts  at  rebuke ;  evidently  resigning  himself  to  the 
prospect  of  following  two  cantankerous  and  selfish  lunatics 
about  the  bush,  he  retired  and  consoled  himself  by  gloat- 
ing over  his  coming  gorge. 

The  delay  was  sufficiently  annoying,  and  probably 
made  just  the  difference  in  the  chance  of  our  tents  reach- 
ing us  before  night. 

It  was  now  nearly  four,  and  as  we  had  but  a  slender 
idea  of  the  distance  of  Muhemba's  and  but  little  confi- 
dence in  our  messengers,  we  took  the  precaution  of  having 
a  grass  hut  built  in  case  nothing  turned  up.  And  it 
was  fortunate  that  we  did  ;  there  was  never  a  sign  of  our 
carriers,  and  it  rained  from  midnight  till  nearly  dawn. 
We  were  lucky  in  having  some  food  left  over,  and  with 
a  consomme  of  fresh  elephant-tail  soup  made  a  very  fair 
meal  by  the  light  of  our  camp  fire.  We  missed  our 
blankets  considerably,  but  wrapped  up  in  our  "  slip-ons," 
one  with  a  camera  and  the  other  with  a  cartridge-bag 
for  a  pillow,  we  managed  to  get  a  certain  amount  of 
sleep  in  spite  of  the  fact  that  our  roof  was  leaking  in 
four  or  five  places.  We  woke  somewhat  unrefreshed 
and  aching,  but,  curiously  enough,  both  of  us  cured  of 
sore  throats  that  had  been  annoying  us  considerably  the 
previous  day. 

Three  of  our  staff  who  had  intended  to  sleep  in  the 
open  at  the  fireside  crawled  into  our  shelter  when  the  rain 
began,  and  huddled  up  near  the  door,  for  which,  though 
one  of  them  snored  immoderately,  we  were  not  sorry,  as 
they  helped  to  keep  out  the  draught. 

A  cup  of  tea  cheered  us  a  little,  and  at  nine  we 
welcomed  our  carriers  and,  ergo,  our  breakfast,  with  real 
delight.  They  had  left  at  five  and  had  lost  their  way,  so 
we  could  not  be  more  than  a  couple  of  hours  or  so  from 
Muhemba's  after  all. 

A  wash  and  breakfast  soon  lessened  our  woes,  the  dis- 
comforts of  the  night  were  quickly  forgotten,  and  we  spent 
a  quiet  day  while  the  elephant  was  being  cut  up. 

A  curious  example  of  native  stupidity  occurred  in  con- 


ELEPHANT  HUNTING 


i8i 


nection  with  the  disposal  of  the  meat.  When  it  had  been 
cut  up  we  divided  it  into  five  portions,  allotting  one  to  the 
Kabaka's  representative,  Muhemba,  and  the  local  villagers 
and  guides,  another  to  our  Rhodesian  staff  and  the  hunters, 
and  the  remaining  three-fifths  to  our  carriers.  Knowing 
that  Baganda  do  not  eat  elephant  meat,  we  explained  to 
them  that  they  could  use  it  to  purchase  food  from  the  local 
natives  to  whom  it  was  not  taboo,  and  thus  either  save  their 
cents  or  supplement  their  rations.  We  were  dumbfounded 
when  they  curtly  and  emphatically  refused  to  take  any  of 
it.  Pressed  to  give  a  reason  they  explained  that  they 
would  rather  have  cents  than  meat,  so  once  more  we  told 
them  that  the  meat,  being  a  gift,  was  supplementary  to 
and  not  in  lieu  of  cents  :  that  they  could  have  their  cents 
and  the  meat,  or  the  cents  only,  but  that  there  was  not 
and  never  had  been  any  question  of  their  getting  meat 
only.  This  only  elicited  the  cool  suggestion  that  if  we 
liked  we  could  give  the  meat  to  the  villagers  and  instruct 
them  to  provide  our  carriers  with  extra  food,  gratis  ;  to 
which,  restraining  our  irritation  with  difficulty,  we  replied 
that  we  were  not  going  to  do  their  marketing  for  them, 
and  that  if  they  left  the  meat  it  would  be  given  uncondi- 
tionally to  the  local  natives.  They  preferred  to  leave  it, 
so  the  local  Banyoro  profited  considerably  by  their 
stupidity. 

We  discovered  later,  when  we  knew  them  better,  that 
the  real  reason  for  this  remarkable  attitude  on  their  part 
was  that  they  feared  we  should,  in  spite  of  our  assertions, 
use  the  gift  of  meat  as  an  excuse  for  docking  their  food 
allowance  of  two  cents  a  day,  as  had  been  done  by  some 
other  travellers. 

During  the  day  we  received  a  note  from  Mr.  Grant 
containing  news  which  was  to  make  a  considerable 
difference  to  our  journey  on  to  the  Soudan.  While  still 
at  Hoima  we  had  wired  to  Alidina  Visram's  agent  at 
Nimule  to  ask  if  he  could  procure  carriers  there  for  us 
on  our  arrival  by  steamer  from  Butiaba,  for  our  next  stage 
to  Gondokoro.  We  had  received  a  reply  that  it  was 
impossible  to  obtain  any,  so  Mr.  Grant  kindly  wired  to 


i82    THROUGH  THE   HEART  OF  AFRICA 


the  District  Commissioner  at  Nimule  to  enlist  his  help, 
but  in  the  letter  which  we  received  at  this  elephant  camp 
he  wrote : — 

"  I  am  not  at  all  sanguine  that  men  can  be  got  at 
Nimule,  in  fact  I  am  almost  sure  that  it  will  not  be 
possible.  The  natives  in  the  Nile  district  will  not  carry 
loads  at  any  price,  and  on  the  rare  occasions  when  they 
get  carriers  they  only  go  from  village  to  village." 

This  made  it  practically  certain  that  we  could  not  go 
by  steamer  from  Butiaba  to  Nimule,  as  it  would  be  quite 
useless  to  arrive  at  the  latter  place  and  be  stranded  there 
for  lack  of  carriers,  while  the  conveyance  of  sufficient  men 
by  steamer  would  be  very  expensive.  The  alternative, 
which  we  decided  to  adopt,  was  to  go  overland  all  the 
way,  taking  our  carriers  through.  This  meant  missing 
the  most  picturesque  part  of  the  river  journey,  but  held 
out  instead  a  far  more  entertaining  prospect,  in  the  shape 
of  the  trip  through  the  little  known  and  unadministered 
Lango  territory  south  of  Nimule,  through  which  we  had 
been  informed  we  could  travel  if  we  wished  to,  though 
that  part  of  the  territory  was  really  closed  to  travellers. 
To  anticipate  a  little,  after  we  had  left  Hoima  for  Masindi 
a  fortnight  later  a  telegram  arrived  from  the  District 
Commissioner  at  Nimule  stating  that  he  could  arrange  for 
thirty  carriers  if  we  would  bring  the  balance,  but  the 
prospect  of  travelling  through  the  Lango  country  had 
grown  more  and  more  alluring  as  we  dwelt  upon  it,  and 
we  decided  definitely  to  give  up  the  idea  of  the  easier 
river  journey. 

The  abandonment  of  the  steamer  journey  and  the 
choice  of  the  route  made  it  necessary  to  calculate  how 
much  time  remained  at  our  disposal ;  and  we  reckoned 
that  travelling  direct  by  the  overland  route  we  could  arrive 
at  Gondokoro  in  thirty-two  days.  This  would  leave  us  a 
margin  of  eighteen  days  for  shooting  and  occasional  rests. 
We  had  not  many  more  days  to  spare  for  the  Bugoma 
district  if  we  were  to  get  any  sport  in  the  Masindi  country  ; 
but  as  the  prospects  seemed  fairly  good  where  we  were, 


ELEPHANT  HUNTING 


183 


and  we  were  getting  a  plentiful  and  almost  daily  supply  of 
pine-apples,  cabbages,  and  potatoes,  we  decided  to  give  the 
spot  a  fair  trial  before  moving  on. 

Muhemba,  who  had  come  to  our  camp  with  plenty  of 
food  for  our  carriers,  had  cheered  us  by  declaring  that 
the  neighbourhood  of  his  village  was  the  regular  habitat  of 
small  groups  of  big  bulls,  and  suggested  sending  out  scouts 
early  next  morning  who  might  get  back  the  same  night 
with  news.  We  accepted  his  offer,  and  returned  once 
more  to  his  village  to  await  developments. 

By  noon  the  following  day  news  came  in  of  a  herd 
with  one  big  bull  about  a  couple  of  hours  away,  but  the 
hour  was  late,  the  report  not  very  convincing,  and  we 
decided  not  to  move  that  day. 

The  following  morning  we  were  off  at  dawn.  For  about 
three  hours,  progress  was  very  dull,  tramping  and  crush- 
ing through  elephant  grass  and  water,  for  it  had  been 
raining  daily  for  nearly  a  week.  But  at  about  nine  o'clock, 
after  being  on  fresh  spoor  for  half-an-hour  or  so,  when  we 
were  quite  close  to  the  south  end  of  Lake  Albert  and  within 
sight  of  the  swampy  delta  of  the  Semliki  River,  we  heard  the 
rumbling  of  a  herd  of  elephants  some  little  way  ahead. 

The  country  of  this  corner  of  the  lake  consists  of 
a  series  of  undulating  hill-ridges  running  east  and  west, 
the  intervening  valleys  being  formed  by  the  watercourses 
which  drain  the  surrounding  country  and  act  as  feeders 
to  the  lake. 

It  was  some  fifteen  minutes  later  that,  when  topping 
one  of  these  ridges,  we  sighted  our  herd  slowly  mounting 
the  opposite  rise,  about  500  yards  away.  They  had 
brought  us  still  closer  to  the  lake,  and  we  could  see  the 
sandy  foreshore  at  the  foot  of  the  escarpment. 

We  let  them  disappear  over  the  crest,  and  then,  the 
wind  being  right,  went  after  them.  On  topping  the  rise 
ourselves,  we  soon  saw  a  portion  of  the  herd  emerging 
from  a  "  gully  "  below  us,  and  another  a  little  farther  on, 
apparently  cows  and  calves.  While  taking  a  good  look  at 
them,  the  snapping  of  trees  close  on  our  left  showed  that 
the  tail  of  the  herd  was  still  near  by. 


i84    THROUGH  THE  HEART  OF  AFRICA 


Stepping  cautiously  forward,  we  were  presently  re- 
warded by  the  sight  of  a  fine  big  bull  moving  across  our 
course,  and  feeding  as  he  went.  Others  were  close  by, 
and  as  they  were  probably  all  bulls,  bringing  up  more  suo 
the  tail  of  the  herd,  we  advanced  more  warily  than  ever, 
wishing  neither  to  lose  a  chance  of  a  good  tusker,  nor  to 
get  into  any  kind  of  trouble.  A  minute  or  two  later,  the 
beast  that  we  had  first  sighted  gave  us  a  better  view  of 
himself  than  ever,  and  we  decided  that  he  was  quite  good 
enough. 

Taking  steady  aim  for  the  heart  we  fired — first  the 
.450,  right  and  left,  then  a  single  shot  from  the  .360. 

A  tremendous  commotion  followed — the  whole  country- 
side seemed  alive  with  elephants.  We  did  not  see  another 
worth  bagging,  so  while  the  herd  was  scrambling  and 
scattering,  goodness  knew  where,  we  retired  to  a  clump 
of  boulders  close  by  from  which  we  could  see  what  was 
happening — not  for  a  moment  doubting  that  the  victim 
was  sufficiently  disabled  to  allow  us  time  to  look  round. 
The  herd,  which  must  have  been  nearer  two  hundred  than 
one  (we  counted  a  hundred  and  forty),  took  a  long  time  to 
move  off,  particularly  some  small  cows,  which  hung  about 
so  persistently  just  on  the  top  of  the  next  small  rise, 
apparently  perplexed  by  what  we  thought  were  the  dying 
groans  of  our  beast,  that  it  was  about  half-an-hour  before 
we  descended  to  investigate.  We  had  had  a  good  view 
of  the  whole  herd  going  up  the  next  big  rise,  and  we 
laughed  at  a  suggestion  that  the  wounded  one  had  been 
helped  off  by  his  pals,  quite  expecting  to  find  him  dead  or 
near  it. 

Our  disappointment  and  chagrin  may  be  imagined 
when  we  discovered  not  a  trace  of  him  anywhere,  nor, 
at  first,  even  a  drop  of  blood.  The  mystery  was  further 
deepened  when  Chuma,  who  had  gone  back  to  the  point 
from  which  we  had  fired  to  pick  up  the  trail,  returned  to 
say  that  all  our  three  bullets  had  struck  a  tree  a  long  way 
from  the  ground,  and  consequently  must  have  missed  him. 

We  went  along  ourselves,  and,  when  we  had  taken 
everything  in,  were  more  mystified  than  ever — the  tree  had 


ELEPHANT  HUNTING 


185 


certainly  been  struck,  a  small  branch  some  nine  feet  from 
the  ground  bearing  the  three  bullet  marks,  almost  in  a 
dead  straight  line,  and  less  than  a  foot  apart. 

We  carefully  reconstructed  the  whole  while  the  details 
were  fresh  in  our  memory.  The  tree  was  twelve  paces 
beyond  the  spot  on  which  the  elephant  had  been  standing, 
and  here  the  height  at  which  the  bullets  must  have  passed 
was  but  seven  feet. 

As  the  elephant  was  at  least  ten  feet  eight  inches  in 
height,  the  bullets  cannot  have  passed  over  him,  further 
proved  by  the  fact  that  blood  was  found  in  four  different 
spots,  and  it  was  almost  equally  impossible  to  believe  either 
that  all  three  bullets — two  .450  and  one  .360 — -had  passed 
clean  through  him,  or — considering  the  distance  of  thirty- 
two  yards  at  which  we  had  been  standing — that  any  of 
our  shots  had  clean  missed  him  :  they  were  much  more 
likely  to  have  passed  through  and  close  to  the  base  of  his 
heart. 

However  it  may  have  happened,  we  never  found  a  trace 
of  him  again.  We  had  already  sent  back  for  our  tents, 
&c.,  before  leaving  the  rocks.  After  realising  our  loss  we 
lunched,  and  then  went  on  for  two  or  three  hours  more 
in  hopes  of  finding  the  wounded  beast.  We  got  quite 
close  up  to  parts  of  the  herd  three  or  four  times,  but 
never  saw  anything  worth  shooting  at ;  and  the  heavy 
rain  which  fell  for  the  rest  of  the  afternoon  destroyed  all 
chances  of  the  blood  spoor  being  any  longer  visible.  The 
herd  had  broken  up  into  small  groups,  none  of  which 
appeared  to  contain  large  bulls.  It  was  nearly  always  in 
the  thickest  of  stuff  that  we  found  them,  but  as  they  were 
moving  slowly,  we  generally  got  a  glimpse  of  everything  in 
the  group. 

It  was  with  one  of  these  groups  that  we  had  what 
might  have  been  a  very  unpleasant  encounter.  We  had 
been  for  some  little  time  following  and  watching  the  move- 
ments of  a  batch  of  twenty  or  thirty,  which  we  thought 
might  contain  the  wounded  bull,  when  suddenly  we  heard 
on  our  right  the  low  rumbling  sound  that  indicated  the 
close  proximity  of  yet  another  detachment.    We  had  just 


i86    THROUGH  THE   HEART  OF  AFRICA 


descended  from  a  point  of  vantage  and  were  making  our 
way  along  a  dip  between  two  little  ridges,  the  right  hand 
of  which  was  broken  up  into  smaller  hills.  The  sounds 
seemed  to  come  from  beyond  these  latter,  so  we  worked 
round  the  first  of  them,  hoping  to  obtain  a  sight  of  the 
beasts  from  the  top  of  the  second. 

The  pass  between  the  two  was  narrow,  steep-sided, 
thickly  overgrown  and  rough  underfoot.  We  had  actually 
entered  it  and  were  looking  for  a  good  spot  to  mount  the 
next  incline,  when  a  stick  snapped  like  a  pistol-shot,  swish 
went  a  thick  patch  of  grass  less  than  ten  paces  in  front  of 
us,  and  a  swaying  trunk  and  a  pair  of  huge  flapping  ears 
were  towering  above  us  at  what  seemed  like  a  height  of 
twenty  feet. 

We  had  met  the  herd  right  in  our  gully,  and  coming 
from  the  opposite  direction  !  We  just  had  time  to  see  that 
it  was  a  huge  cow  that  was  upon  us,  so  we  scrambled  up 
the  slope  to  our  right  without  any  further  delay  and 
awaited  developments.  Fortunately  we  had  not  been 
seen,  and  at  first  they  began  filing  quietly  out  of  the 
gully  suspecting  nothing.  As  they  passed  within  a  few 
paces  of  us  we  saw  that  there  were  fifteen  or  sixteen  of 
them — all  cows  or  young  bulls,  with  a  calf  or  two.  Some 
were  huge  beasts,  but  none  carried  tusks  of  any  size.  A 
step  or  two  farther  and  some  of  the  foremost  had  reached 
the  spot  on  which  we  had  a  second  before  been  standing. 
Up  went  their  trunks  sniffing  the  tainted  breeze,  and  as 
they  got  clear  of  the  gully  six  or  seven  of  them  wheeled 
round,  stood  and  stared  at  us  with  a  suspicious  and  un- 
easy air.  For  nearly  half  a  minute  they  hesitated,  and  we 
were  wondering  whether  they  meant  trouble  after  all,  when, 
to  our  relief,  their  alarm  got  the  better  of  their  pugnacity, 
and  they  turned  and  stampeded  in  the  opposite  direction. 

It  had  been  an  anxious  moment  ;  we  were  in  a  fairly 
good  position,  and  we  might  or  might  not  have  succeeded 
in  stopping  a  charge,  but  at  the  best  it  would  have  meant 
the  murder  of  a  cow  or  an  underweight  bull,  which  would 
have  been  unfortunate. 

After  examining  yet  two  more  groups  that  were  bring- 


ELEPHANT  HUNTING 


187 


ing  up  the  rear  of  the  scattered  herd,  and  seeing  no  trace 
of  our  wounded  bull  or  any  more  big  tuskers,  we  came  to 
the  conclusion  that  the  old  males  must  have  gone  off  in  a 
different  direction,  and  we  decided  to  give  it  up.  Turning 
back,  we  reached  the  stream  at  which  we  had  told  our 
carriers  to  camp,  at  above  five  o'clock. 

Our  instructions  had  once  more  been  improved  upon, 
however,  and  after  waiting  an  hour,  during  which  we  had 
another  hut  built  in  which  to  pass  the  night,  we  discovered 
that  they  had  selected  a  spot  a  mile  or  two  up  stream. 
We  reached  it  at  nightfall,  to  find  the  indefatigable  and 
obliging  Muhemba  awaiting  us  with  a  hundred  bundles 
of  food. 

It  had  been  raining  of¥  and  on  most  of  the  day  ;  we 
were  soaked  to  the  skin,  and  fairly  worn  out,  and  for  once 
were  content  to  make  the  best  of  a  warm  bath  and  a  camp 
fire  without  discoursing  on  the  ethics  of  meticular  obedi- 
ence. 

The  next  day  was  spent  in  much  the  same  neighbour- 
hood, but  a  little  farther  east,  and  it  proved  equally 
fruitless. 

It  was  about  half-past  nine  when  elephants  were  first 
heard.  The  wind  was  variable,  but  mainly  in  our  favour, 
and  after  moving  in  their  direction  for  twenty  minutes  we 
sighted  them  on  a  rise  about  a  mile  away,  with  a  hollow 
and  a  stream  between  us.  Some  were  descending  the 
slope,  others  were  in  the  stream  itself,  but  the  grass  and 
vegetation  were  so  high  that  even  their  backs  were  not 
visible  all  the  time. 

For  some  thirty  minutes  we  could  see  nothing  but 
young  bulls  and  cows  ;  then  a  huge  bull  appeared  two  or 
three  hundred  yards  behind  the  rest,  and  following  slowly 
in  their  wake.  His  tusks  were  hidden,  but  his  bulk 
suggested  the  possibility  of  a  big  pair,  and  we  proceeded 
to  try  and  get  up  to  him.  It  was  going  to  be  a  difficult 
task,  and  we  had  hardly  decided  which  direction  to  take 
when  our  attention  was  attracted  by  a  score  of  vultures 
hovering  and  circling  over  a  spot  about  a  mile  to  our  left. 
Thinking  that  it  might  be  our  quarry  of  the  day  before 


1 88    THROUGH  THE   HEART  OF  AFRICA 


that  had  succumbed,  we  hastened  to  the  spot.  Another 
and  a  peculiar  disappointment  !  The  attraction  was  the 
placenta  of  an  elephant  that  had  given  birth  some  few 
hours  before. 

Returning  towards  our  original  objective,  we  climbed 
a  tall  tree  that  ought  to  have  given  us  some  sort  of  glimpse 
of  the  herd,  but  only  to  find  that  the  beasts  had  got  our 
wind  and  had  all  stampeded.  Another  big  herd,  however, 
was  sighted  to  the  north,  moving  south-east,  and  after  a 
little  rest  and  refreshment  we  proceeded  to  try  and  cut 
them  off. 

We  had  been  going  less  than  an  hour  when  we  found 
that  there  was  yet  another  herd  considerably  closer  on 
our  right.  Investigation  showed  them  to  be  in  a  dense 
forest  patch  near  the  top  of  a  slight  incline,  and  we  started 
off  in  their  direction.  We  had  but  little  idea  of  the 
difficulties  that  lay  before  us. 

The  grass  and  vegetation  in  which  we  had  been  work- 
ing all  the  morning  was  tall  and  thick  enough,  but  it  was 
not  "  elephant "  grass  proper,  and  it  presently  gave  way 
to  a  big  patch  of  the  latter  that  surpassed  all  our  previous 
experiences.  This  was  fifteen  to  twenty  feet  high,  and  so 
strong  and  close  as  to  be  every  bit  as  impenetrable  as  a 
bamboo  brake,  but  closer  and  denser  than  any  bamboos 
that  ever  grew.  For  fully  three-quarters  of  an  hour, 
during  which  time  we  travelled  perhaps  half  a  mile,  we 
were  painfully  and  laboriously  forcing  our  way  through 
it.  Chumamaboko — an  exceptionally  powerful  six-foot 
native  of  just  twelve  stone — led  the  way  ;  armed  with  a 
stout  alpenstock,  he  threw  himself  bodily  on  the  tough 
and  matted  stems,  and  forced,  pulled,  pushed,  and  tore 
them  aside,  and  crushed  them  down  by  sheer  weight  and 
strength.  It  was  quite  tiring  enough  following  in  the 
passage  that  he  made,  and  it  was  with  many  a  gasp  of 
relief  that  we  finally  emerged  and  found  ourselves  on  the 
edge  of  the  forest  strip  in  which  we  had  detected  the 
presence  of  the  elephants.  We  had  trees  of  all  sizes  and 
tangled  undergrowth  to  make  our  way  through  now,  but, 
except  in  patches,  it  was  free  from  tall  grass,  and  we  had 


ELEPHANT  HUNTING 


189 


a  fairly  clear  view  in  most  directions  for  as  much  as 
twenty  yards. 

We  struck  fresh  spoor  almost  at  once,  and  had  gone 
but  a  few  steps  when  a  snorting,  trumpeting,  and  crashing 
to  our  right  warned  us  that  the  herd  had  not  gone  far. 
The  noise  died  away  again  as  quickly  as  it  had  begun,  but 
they  were  evidently  still  there,  and  giving  no  indication  of 
the  direction  of  their  next  move. 

Just  as  we  were  moving  cautiously  on,  a  giant  forest 
hog  stepped  out  in  front  of  us  and  stood  and  stared  at  us 
for  fully  six  seconds  before  he  cocked  up  his  tail  and, 
with  a  contemptuous  grunt,  dived  into  the  undergrowth, 
where  he  remained  till  a  clod  of  earth  thrown  in  his  direc- 
tion caused  him  to  beat  a  final  retreat.  He  was  a  fine 
young  male,  with  no  tushes  visible,  standing  about  three 
feet  nine  inches  ^  at  the  shoulder,  and  we  deeply  regretted 
that  our  close  proximity  to  elephants  lost  us  a  probably 
unique  chance  of  securing  a  specimen  of  one  of  the  rarest 
of  African  mammals. 

Moving  on  once  more,  we  were  suddenly  brought  to 
a  standstill  by  a  fresh  outburst  of  snorting,  trumpeting, 
screaming,  and  splashing  just  in  front  of  us  and  closer. 
The  elephants  were  either  crossing  a  stream  or  having  a 
bath  ;  they  were  closer  than  ever,  and  sounded  as  if  they 
were  coming  our  way. 

After  a  brief  halt,  a  little  scouting  by  Chuma  resulted 
in  a  report  that  they  were  stuck  in  a  stream  which  they 
were  trying  to  cross.  Following  him  through  a  dense 
fringe  of  reeds  and  grass,  we  reached  the  edge  of  a  stream 
or  swamp  some  fifteen  yards  broad,  and  saw  the  rear- 
guard of  the  herd  standing  in  the  water  and  reeds  that 
fringed  the  farther  side.  There  were  only  cows  visible, 
and  as  they  began  to  show  signs  of  returning  our  way  we 
retreated  a  little  way  back  to  a  spot  where  we  should 
have  more  room  to  move.  After  one  or  two  more  false 
alarms  we  sent  Chuma  up  a  tall  tree  to  reconnoitre.  He 

1  In  Rowland  Ward's  Records  of  Big  Gaj/ie  the  height  of  the  forest  hog  is 
put  at  much  less  than  this,  but  we  carefully  noted  the  height  to  which  this  beast 
reached  on  a  sapling,  and  then  measured  it. 


I90     THROUGH  THE   HEART  OF  AFRICA 


descended  five  minutes  later,  saying  he  had  seen  them  all 
as  they  were  moving  off,  and  that  there  was  not  a  big  bull 
amongst  them.  Had  the  report  come  from  Duawiri  we 
should  have  climbed  that  tree  ourselves,  but  we  knew  we 
could  trust  Chuma :  he  was  as  keen  as  either  of  us  on 
getting  a  big  one,  and  ready  to  go  through  any  kind  of 
country. 

It  was  another  blank  day,  and  the  only  thing  left  to 
do  was  to  get  back  to  camp,  which  we  had  had  pitched  at 
a  small  village  near  Muhemba's.  The  walk  back  was  very 
much  like  the  afternoon's  scramble  through  the  elephant 
grass,  only  there  was  much  more  of  it.  After  we  had 
thought  that  we  had  got  to  camp  at  least  three  times  on 
the  way,  and  when  we  reached  a  condition  in  which  it 
really  did  not  seem  to  matter  whether  we  got  there  at 
midnight  or  dawn  or  whether  we  ever  got  there  at  all, 
we  eventually  found  the  spot  at  a  little  after  dark — too 
tired  either  to  think  much  of  our  disappointment  or  even 
fully  to  appreciate  the  rest  and  refreshment  for  which 
barely  an  hour  before  we  would  have  given  almost  any- 
thing we  had. 

We  had  had  enough  of  Bugoma  ;  we  had  seen  hundreds 
of  elephants,  at  least  a  score  of  bulls  with  tusks  of  forty 
to  fifty  pounds,  but  only  one — the  one  that  we  had 
wounded  and  lost — with  as  much  as  sixty-pounders,  and 
we  decided  there  and  then  to  try  the  Masindi  district 
without  any  further  delay,  and  were  back  in  Hoima  three 
days  later. 


XIII 


ELEPHANT  HUNTING  IN  THE  MASINDI 
DISTRICT— I 

Sale  of  our  ivory  at  Hoima — A  civet  cat— Total  eclipse  of  the  moon — 
Encounter  with  Captain  Tufnell — Masindi — Elephant  hunting  in  a 
forest  belt — Our  second  elephant — Blank  days  near  Samusoni's  and 
Benjamin's. 

On  our  arrival  for  the  second  time  at  Hoima  we  found 
that  Mr.  Grant  had  been  called  away  to  other  duties,  and 
that  Dr.  Strathairn,  the  Medical  Officer,  was  acting  in  his 
place  pending  the  arrival  of  a  successor. 

Though  sorry  to  have  missed  our  former  host,  we  had 
nothing  to  complain  of  in  the  change,  for  besides  enjoying 
the  delightful  hospitality  of  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Strathairn,  we 
got  every  kind  of  assistance  and  advice  that  it  occurred 
to  us  to  ask  for. 

We  also  found  Messrs.  McLure  and  Bain,  Super- 
intendent of  Public  Works  and  District  Engineer,  whom 
we  had  previously  met  at  Entebbe.  The  former  had  just 
arrived  from  there  on  a  motor  bicycle,  a  distance  of 
150  miles,  only  sleeping  at  Kampala,  twenty-two  miles  out, 
on  the  way.  The  following  day  he  started  back,  and, 
we  heard  later,  accomplished  the  return  journey  in  the 
same  time — not  an  insignificant  achievement,  considering 
the  effect  on  the  roads  of  a  sudden  tropical  shower,  and 
the  discomforts  and  inconveniences  that  would  attend  a 
breakdown  at,  say,  half-way  between  Hoima  and  Kampala. 

Dr.  Marshall,  another  medical  officer,  had  also  arrived, 
and  knowing  something  of  the  Masindi  country,  gave  us  a 
very  useful  little  sketch-map  showing  the  most  likely  spots 
for  elephant,  as  well  as  some  welcome  advice.  His  esti- 
mate of  our  chances  of  success,  as  well  as  the  sight  of  a 

191 


192     THROUGH  THE   HEART  OF  AFRICA 


pair  of  tusks  which  he  himself  recently  secured — the  larger 
of  which  scaled  ninety-one  pounds — gave  us  some  en- 
couragement. 

Duawiri  and  the  local  natives  who  had  been  of  special 
service  to  us  in  Bugoma  had  to  be  paid  off,  but  before 
doing  so  we  sought  advice. 

We  really  could  not,  without  protest,  pay  that  amiable 
muddler  what  he  seemed  to  think  he  was  worth,  nor,  to 
our  relief,  were  we  required  to. 

Five  men  of  Muhemba's,  who  had  really  put  us  on  to 
the  herd  out  of  which  we  bagged  our  bull,  received  Rs.5 
a  piece,  and  Duawiri  Rs.3  !  As  he  had  been  boasting 
that  he  was  going  to  get  Rs.30  per  elephant,  it  was  some- 
thing of  a  shock  to  him,  but  he  had  been  less  than  no 
assistance  to  us,  and  it  was  quite  as  much  as  he  had  earned. 
Chuma,  needless  to  say,  was  delighted.  He  had  had  no 
use  whatever  for  poor  old  Duawiri,  and  had  chaffed  him 
unmercifully  round  the  camp  fire,  the  evening  after  the 
death  of  our  elephant.  They  were  cutting  up  their  meat 
into  the  usual  strips,  and  hanging  them  on  rude  trestles 
over  the  fire,  and  Duawiri  was  trying  in  vain  to  face  the 
running  fire  of  sarcasm  that  was  being  poured  on  him  by 
Chuma  and  the  others.  He  was  indiscreet  enough  to 
begin  crowing  : — 

"  Ha  !  we  have  killed  an  elephant  to-day  !  " 

"  We  !  "  shouted  Chuma.  "  We  ?  I  say,  he  thinks  he 
had  something  to  do  with  it !  Here,  hand  me  that  knife, 
and  don't  pinch  my  meat." 

"  Meat !  "  from  Duawiri,  with  an  attempt  at  buoyancy. 
"  Yes,  elephant  meat ;  there  is  no  meat  like  elephant 
meat,  is  there  ?  and  there  is  plenty  of  it." 

"  Well,  you  have  earned  a  lot,  haven't  you  ?  Oh, 
well,  I  suppose  even  the  hyena  gets  a  meal  if  he 
hangs  on  long  enough  behind  the  lion.  Talk  about 
hunters  !  Now  /  am  an  elephant  hunter,  I  am.  I  have 
tracked  elephants,  killed  elephants,  lived  with  elephants 
all  my  life.  If  I  am  not  an  elephant  hunter,  who  is  ? 
Have  I  not  been  at  the  death  of  all  the  elephants  that  the 
Bwana  has  killed  ?    Has  he  ever  killed  a  cow  or  a  small 


ELEPHANT  HUNTING 


193 


tusker  when  I  have  been  with  him,  and  has  he  ever  been 
trampled  on  or  driven  away  by  them  ?  " 

"  Oh  yes,"  murmured  the  other,  with  a  shake  of  the 
head,  "  you  are  a  hunter." 

"  And  have  I,"  resumed  the  modest  Chuma,  "  ever 
suggested  that  he  leaves  the  bulls  of  a  herd,  and  go  for  the 
cows  and  calves  ?  " 

Here  Duawiri,  with  a  brave  el¥ort  to  keep  his  end  up, 
replied  with  a  word  or  two  of  Chiwemba  that  he  had 
picked  up.    It  was  not  tactful,  and  Chuma  turned  on  him. 

"  Mulenga  strike  me  !  You  would  imitate  me,  would 
you ! "  On  that  the  vanquished  Duawiri  relapsed  into 
silence,  with  a  tolerant  and  easy  smile,  as  if  to  say,  "  Well^ 
have  it  your  own  way,"  and  Chuma  went  on  with  his 
cooking. 

We  next  approached  the  local  firms,  with  a  view  to  the 
sale  of  our  ivory.  There  were  two  who  were  buying — 
Alidina  Visram  and  the  British  Trading  Company.  Sound 
medium-sized  ivory  was  selling  at  the  moment  for  Rs.5.5a 
to  Rs.6.50  per  pound.  We  did  not  expect  to  get  more 
than  Rs.5.50  from  Alidina's  agent,  but  we  told  him  that 
the  British  Trading  Company  were  offering  Rs.6,  and  he 
eventually  gave  the  larger  price — though  protesting,  after 
the  manner  of  his  race,  that  one  tusk  at  least  was  defec- 
tive, that  the  price  was  excessive,  and  that  he  was  buying 
at  a  loss. 

The  patched  bicycle  had  been  running  quite  satisfac- 
torily since  leaving  Mubendi  on  October  22nd,  and  we  had 
begun  to  flatter  ourselves  that  we  were  going  to  have  no 
more  trouble  with  it.  Our  gratification  was  short-lived. 
Its  evil  genius  had  merely  been  lying  dormant  for  a  time, 
to  wake  into  activity  when  we  least  expected  it.  During 
the  last  mile  into  Hoima,  it  suddenly  began  to  run 
abominably  stiff,  and  we  took  the  first  opportunity  to  strip 
it  and  discover  the  nature  of  its  fresh  developments. 
This  time  it  looked  as  if  the  climax  had  been  reached. 
Another  cone  had  split,  probably  owing  to  a  faulty  ball- 
carrier, the  fragments  had  got  into  the  two-speed  gear 
mechanism,  and  the  result  was  an  advanced  stage  of 

N 


194    THROUGH  THE  HEART  OF  AFRICA 


mechanical  mincemeat,  which  it  seemed  hopeless  to 
attempt  to  remedy.  Cogs  were  chipped,  stripped,  and 
jammed,  and  the  case-hardened  rim  of  the  perimetral  gear- 
wheel was  cracking  and  peeling  like  an  egg-shell.  Fortu- 
nately we  had  one  spare  sound  cone  on  the  discarded 
mechanism.  It  was  for  the  wrong  side  of  the  wheel,  and 
it  could  not  remedy  much  of  the  damage,  but  we  found 
that  by  using  the  machine  on  the  high  gear  only,  though 
it  was  bound  to  revolve  stiffly,  the  wheel  would  revolve,  and 
we  left  it  at  that,  wondering  whether  it  would  last  a  week, 
a  day,  or  even  an  hour. 

The  road  to  Masindi  was  an  excellent  one,  with  well- 
placed  and  comfortable  camps.  It  was  but  a  distance  of 
thirty-one  miles,  but  we  took  it  easy,  and  leaving  Hoima 
on  November  i6th,  got  in  on  the  third  day  at  lo  A.M. 
The  journey  was  comparatively  uneventful.  We  secured 
an  interesting  addition  to  our  bag  on  the  first  day,  in  the 
shape  of  a  civet  cat,  which  though  common  enough  is  rarely 
seen  owing  to  its  nocturnal  habits.  The  beast  was  lying 
asleep  on  one  of  the  lower  branches  of  a  large  tree  in  the 
camp  compound.  All  the  carriers  had  passed  right  under 
it  as  they  came  in,  and  it  was  the  last  arrival  of  the  whole 
caravan  who  first  detected  its  presence.  At  four  o'clock 
the  following  morning  occurred  an  exceptionally  fine  total 
lunar  eclipse  ;  the  sudden  change  from  the  brilliant  light  of 
the  full  moon  to  the  inky  blackness  of  night  was  enough 
to  impress  even  the  lethargic  and  apathetic  native. 

At  our  second  camp  we  met  Captain  Tufnell,  District 
Commissioner  at  Palango,  who  was  proceeding  home  on 
leave.  Many  of  his  carriers  were  of  the  Lango  tribe,  and 
though  of  a  distinctly  savage  type,  they  impressed  us  con- 
siderably with  their  athletic  carriage  and  fine  physique. 
Kelobong,  one  of  the  most  important  chiefs  of  the  tribe, 
was  accompanying  him  as  far  as  Hoima,  to  be  shown  a 
little  of  the  white  man's  civilisation.  Unlike  his  people, 
who,  at  the  most,  wore  a  narrow  strip  of  skin,  he  was 
attired  in  a  European  serge  suit,  and  a  felt  hat  with  a 
white  puggaree.  On  our  arrival  he  came  forward,  and 
shook  our  hands  with  a  grave  and  easy  courtesy  of  which 


ELEPHANT  HUNTING 


195 


we  were  to  see  a  good  deal  more  later  in  our 
journey. 

We  were  naturally  deeply  interested  to  hear  all  that 
Captain  Tufnell  could  tell  us  about  the  country  through 
which  we  were  going  to  travel.  Neither  the  Acholi  nor 
the  Lango,  he  said,  would  come  near  us  for  anything — 
except  perhaps  to  eat  an  elephant — and  any  food  that  we 
wanted  in  the  Lango  country  would  have  to  be  procured 
from  the  Baganda  agents,  through  whom  the  Government 
is  beginning  to  exercise  some  control  over  these  natives. 

It  was  mainly  for  this  reason  that  Captain  Tufnell 
emphatically  approved  the  suggestion  made  to  us  at  Hoima 
that  we  should  apply  for  a  small  escort  of  police  from 
Palango  to  Gondokoro. 

Masindi  station  proper  is  built,  like  most  of  the  out- 
stations,  on  a  slight  rise,  and  a  little  removed  from  the 
township,  native  market,  and  Indian  bazaar.  The  offices 
are  ranged  on  three  sides  of  a  large  open  square,  from  the 
back  of  which  a  drive  of  over  a  hundred  yards  leads  to  the 
officials'  residence.  The  drive  is  sheltered  by  a  magnificent 
avenue,  principally  of  muiawa  and  gum  trees  ;  a  grassy 
paddock  at  one  side  was  enclosed  by  a  tall,  leafy  fence  of 
growing  saplings  that  had  been  driven  into  the  ground  as 
stakes,  and  had  subsequently  taken  root.  It  was  composed 
of  all  kinds  of  local  trees,  and  provided  a  further  testimony 
to  the  fertility  of  the  Uganda  soil  and  the  forcing  powers 
of  the  climate. 

The  Assistant  District  Commissioner,  Mr.  Postle- 
thwaite,  was  away  when  we  arrived,  but  returned  next 
morning  with  a  pair  of  seventy-pound  tusks  that  he  had 
secured  while  travelling  in  the  neighbourhood.  He  pro- 
vided us  with  a  cheerful  and  intelligent-looking  young 
pagan,  named  Udala,  who  had  been  out  with  him,  as 
Duawiri's  successor.  He  was  a  hunter  in  the  service  of 
one  of  the  local  chiefs,  but  was  more  than  willing  to  take 
service  with  us  as  far  as  Palango  on  the  understanding 
that  his  work  was  chiefly  to  get  information  as  to  the 
whereabouts  of  elephants,  and  his  pay  to  be  reckoned  at 
a  maximum  of  Rs.20  for  an  elephant — supposing  he  were 


196    THROUGH  THE  HEART  OF  AFRICA 


really  of  assistance — and  at  a  reduction  for  two  or  three. 
He  was  despatched  at  once  to  order  supplies  and  make 
inquiries  at  our  next  camp. 

Our  carriers  left  at  about  noon,  and  an  hour  later, 
during  luncheon,  a  report  came  in  to  the  effect  that  two 
large  bull  elephants  had  been  seen  that  morning  in  some 
native  gardens  within  six  miles  of  the  station  and  only  a 
mile  or  two  out  of  our  way. 

A  couple  of  bulls  by  themselves  sounded  rather 
promising,  so  after  despatching  a  messenger  to  inform 
the  Mwami  of  our  coming,  and  sending  our  gun-bearers 
ahead  to  await  us  at  the  turning  off  the  main  road,  we 
started  at  half-past  two.  At  four  o'clock  we  reached  the 
shaiuba  from  which  the  report  had  come,  and  found  the 
owner  and  some  of  his  people  awaiting  us.  The  herd 
was  said  to  be  still  quite  close,  but  it  consisted  of  five, 
not  two  only.  This  was  not  so  encouraging.  An  under- 
estimate even  of  three  was  suspicious.  There  might  be 
many  more  after  all,  and  our  chances  of  finding  one  or 
two  solitary  bulls — always  more  likely  to  be  big  tuskers 
than  those  running  with  a  large  herd — were  gone  again. 

Their  morning's  spoor  was  close  by,  but  no  fresher 
traces  were  found  until  after  an  hour's  plodding  through 
very  thick  grass,  some  seven  or  eight  feet  high,  they  were 
faintly  heard  blowing  some  distance  away  to  our 
right. 

From  the  upper  branches  of  a  tree  could  be  seen  a 
belt  of  thick  jungle  half  a  mile  off  in  the  direction  from 
which  the  sounds  had  come,  and  it  seemed  likely  that  the 
herd  had  found  a  pool  in  the  shade  and  were  enjoying 
themselves  in  it.  In  a  few  minutes  we  found  ourselves 
on  the  edge  of  a  shallow  depression,  overgrown  with 
very  tall  grass,  on  the  farther  side  of  which  rose  the 
forest  belt  that  was  our  objective.  The  fresh  spoor  that 
we  had  found  ten  minutes  before  led  down  through  the 
grass  and  into  the  jungle. 

We  had  had  no  further  indications  of  their  presence 
nor  any  of  their  departure,  so,  though  we  could  seldom 
see  anything  more  than  fifteen  paces  away  and  in  some 


The  D.C"s    House  at  Masindi 


ELEPHANT  HUNTING 


197 


directions  but  three  or  four,  we  groped  our  way  cautiously 
in  and  hoped  for  the  best. 

Every  minute  we  expected  to  come  on  some  member 
of  the  herd.  Once  or  twice  we  were  brought  to  a  stand- 
still, peering  and  listening,  as  a  snapping  stick  or  a  shaking 
bough  close  in  front  of  us  warned  us  that  we  might  be 
getting  a  little  too  near.  Then  a  deep  cough  from  a 
clump  of  reeds  on  our  left  made  us  feel  certain  that  we  were 
right  in  the  middle  of  the  herd,  till  we  realised  that  it  was 
only  a  leopard  whose  voice  had  been  exaggerated  by  the 
tension  of  the  moment.  This  forest  patch  proved  far 
harder  going  than  anything  we  had  encountered  in  Bugoma. 
Masses  of  leafy  creepers  here  and  there  lay  across  our 
path  that  had  been  brushed  aside  by  the  elephants,  and 
yet  scarcely  gave  a  passage. 

For  at  least  a  hundred  yards  we  had  to  pick  our  way 
over  and  through  a  slough  of  mud  and  water,  stepping  as 
best  we  could  from  root  to  root  of  mighty  trees  and 
hanging  on  to  the  vines  that  festooned  them  ;  testing 
every  inch  of  our  path  before  we  trusted  our  weight  to  it. 
Sometimes  a  false  step  meant  a  plunge  into  clinging 
viscous  mud  up  to  the  knee  or  further,  sometimes  the 
swamp  seemed  bottomless  to  Chumamaboko's  probing 
spear,  and  a  fallen  log  or  hidden  root  had  to  be  discovered 
before  we  dared  move  on.  It  was  not  the  best  of  places  in 
which  to  surprise  a  herd  of  elephant,  and  there  were 
moments  when  we  wondered  how  we  should  feel  if  round 
the  next  corner  we  were  to  meet  some  of  them  as  we  had 
done  in  Bugoma — coming  the  opposite  way.  However, 
though  we  could  have  sworn  from  a  dozen  different  signs 
that  they  were  on  that  forest  belt  at  the  same  time  as 
ourselves,  we  saw  nothing  of  them,  and  when  we  finally 
emerged — after  turning  and  twisting,  climbing  and  crawl- 
ing, dodging  and  stooping  through  mud  and  water — and 
slithered  and  stumbled  up  a  grassy  bank  into  the  open 
bush,  we  found  that  they  had  left  it  some  minutes  before. 
Their  noiseless  exit  was  not  the  least  remarkable  of  our 
afternoon's  experiences. 

We  pressed  on  for  a  while  and  heard  them  once  more 


198    THROUGH  THE  HEART  OF  AFRICA 

before  the  setting  sun  warned  us  that  it  was  time  to  give 
it  up  if  we  wanted  to  avoid  the  risk  of  losing  our  way. 
Our  local  guides,  however,  found  us  a  path  back  to  the 
village  sooner  than  we  expected,  and  at  half-past  six  we 
reached  the  spot  where  we  had  left  our  bicycles  and  taken 
up  the  spoor.  Here  we  found  that  our  new  guide  from 
Hoima  had  sent  off  to  camp  to  fetch  our  tents  to  us,  but 
as  there  was  no  question  as  to  which  would  be  the  best 
place  to  camp,  we  started  off  to  meet  them.  After  a  long 
and  rather  difficult  tramp  through  an  overgrown  path, 
which  we  only  succeeded  in  keeping  by  almost  touching 
the  native  in  front  of  us,  we  got  to  the  camping-place 
on  the  road  at  8.15,  meeting  the  boys  about  half-way. 

The  following  day  we  kept  to  the  road,  and  pushed 
on  twenty-four  miles  to  a  camp  called  Kiliandongo's,  as 
its  neighbourhood  had  been  recommended  as  offering 
good  opportunities,  and  there  was  little  chance  of  finding 
anything  in  between.  The  distance  was  almost  too  much 
for  our  carriers,  and  after  a  breakfast  at  6.30  we  got  no 
lunch  till  four  o'clock. 

The  same  night  we  had  a  report  of  a  big  herd  seen 
at  sundown  by  local  scouts,  and  next  day  at  noon,  while 
we  were  waiting  for  further  details,  came  news  of  another 
whose  habitat  was  said  to  be  within  two  hours'  walk. 

For  three  months  it  had  been  feeding  during  the  night 
in  their  gardens,  said  the  natives  who  brought  the  report, 
moving  during  the  daytime  into  a  path  of  bush  less  than 
a  mile  away.  Sending  Chuma  and  Udala  ahead  the 
same  evening,  we  followed  at  daybreak,  and  in  less  than 
two  hours  reached  the  little  village  in  a  country  called 
Chilelambachu,  from  which  the  report  had  come.  In 
obedience  to  a  message  awaiting  us  from  Chuma  we  fol- 
lowed him, and  in  ten  minutes  were  with  him  on  fresh  spoor. 
He  had  already  caught  sight  of  the  herd  :  nothing  more 
than  a  forty-  or  fifty-pounder  had  so  far  shown  itself,  but 
there  were  others  a  little  way  ahead,  and  the  wholesale 
destruction  in  the  banana  groves  as  well  as  the  stripping 
and  uprooting  of  several  large  trees  bore  witness  to  the 
fact  that  the  herd  contained  some  huge  beasts.  After 


ELEPHANT  HUNTING 


199 


half-an-hour  through  tall  grass  and  a  small  belt  of  jungle, 
we  came  out  into  a  comparatively  open  country  with  a 
few  big  trees  and  grass  only  six  or  seven  feet  high,  and 
heard  them  trumpeting  close  by.  Chuma  sighted  them 
from  a  tree-top,  and  reported  a  pair  of  tusks  of  the  same 
size  as  our  first  victim's.  A  large  tree  some  forty  paces 
on  promised  a  better  view,  and  thither  we  made  our  way. 
Chuma  climbed  up  it  as  usual,  and  the  lighter  of  us 
followed  him. 

There  were  elephants  all  over  the  place.  Eight  or  ten 
that  were  standing  in  the  shade  some  150  yards  away  to 
our  left  front  were  cows,  with  perhaps  a  young  bull  or 
two  ;  another  group,  right  in  front,  was  obviously  com- 
posed of  small  fry  ;  no  more  were  at  first  visible,  though 
the  shrill  trumpetings  that  broke  out  at  frequent  intervals 
showed  that  there  were  other  groups  hidden  by  grass  and 
trees  close  by. 

After  nearly  an  hour's  waiting  and  watching,  two  huge 
bulls  were  seen  slowly  emerging  from  cover  to  the  right 
and  advancing  towards  the  nearer  of  the  two  groups. 
Their  tusks  were  as  yet  hidden  in  the  grass.  After  one 
of  them  had  raised  our  hopes  by  taking  a  few  steps  right 
in  our  direction,  they  halted  at  a  distance  of  a  hundred 
or  a  hundred  and  twenty  paces,  and  seemed  to  go  to  sleep. 

For  another  hour  we  watched  them,  hoping  to  get  a 
glimpse  of  some  tusks.  It  was  not  exactly  a  comfortable 
occupation  ;  the  tree  was  of  the  variety  that  is  studded 
nearly  all  over  with  short  thorns,  the  foothold  was  an  un- 
pleasantly narrow  fork,  and  the  view  was  partially  ob- 
structed by  foliage.  Presently  Chuma  announced  from 
a  higher  perch  that  the  nearer  of  the  two  bulls  had  tusks 
of  much  the  same  size  as  those  we  had  secured  in  Bugoma, 
and  a  minute  later  the  whole  herd  began  to  move.  One 
of  the  smaller  groups  came  within  eighty  yards  of  us,  and 
some  newly  arrived  cows  looked  like  advancing  right  on 
to  us  from  a  belt  of  trees  to  our  right,  but  eventually  all 
bent  their  course  away  from  us,  the  last  to  shift  being  the 
two  bulls,  on  whom  we  had  pinned  our  hopes.  Sadly 
we  realised  that  there  was  nothing  really  good  enough,  and 


200    THROUGH  THE   HEART  OF  AFRICA 


decided  to  return  to  camp.  But  we  had  been  working 
round  more  or  less  in  a  circle,  and  our  way  led  us  right 
over  the  spot  just  vacated  by  the  bulls  and  in  the  wake 
of  the  herd. 

Five  minutes  later  we  scaled  a  small  tree  to  see  what 
might  be  in  front,  to  find  that  three  or  four  of  them  were 
standing  like  rocks  less  than  forty  yards  away.  The 
blankness  of  the  day  had  begun  to  tell  upon  us,  and  already 
— the  wish  being  father  to  the  thought — we  fancied  there 
might  be  a  big  enough  one  among  these  after  all. 

They  moved  off  and  we  followed.  After  about  fifteen 
minutes'  stalking  and  scouting,  we  suddenly  came  upon 
eight  or  ten  of  them  standing  drowsily  in  the  shade  of  some 
big  trees  at  the  farther  side  of  a  "  donga  "  ten  or  twelve  feet 
deep  and  fifty  or  sixty  yards  across.  It  was  a  surprising 
thing  to  come  across  so  ideal  a  spot  in  that  country. 
The  bank  on  which  we  stood  was  dotted  with  big  trees, 
and  afforded  an  almost  perfect  strategic  position. 

At  first  we  could  only  see  three  or  four  pairs  of  quite 
small  tusks,  but  the  beast  which,  from  his  size  and  colour, 
was  evidently  the  veteran  of  the  bunch,  was  dozing  with 
his  head  hidden  behind  a  tree  trunk,  and  we  decided  to 
wait  till  he  should  move  and  show  his  ivory.  While 
waiting,  we  were  treated  to  a  very  pretty  little  exhibition  of 
tree-breaking,  and,  though  it  turned  out  a  comparative 
failure,  we  secured  a  snapshot  of  one  of  them  in  the  very 
act.  It  was  a  rare  situation,  and  one  that  made  us  long 
for  cinematograph  apparatus  to  do  it  full  justice. 

Presently  one  of  the  beasts,  a  little  more  ambitious  or 
vicious  than  the  rest,  tried  a  very  big  branch  of  the  tree 
under  which  he  was  standing.  It  must  have  been  over 
twelve  inches  thick,  and  it  resisted  his  efforts.  Thrusting 
a  tusk  into  a  fork,  and  curling  his  trunk  round  the  offending 
limb,  he  shook  the  whole  tree  furiously.  This  aroused 
the  veteran  from  his  lethargy,  and  he  emerged  from  behind 
his  tree,  made  a  half  turn,  and  stood  looking  straight  at  us. 
We  ought  to  have  resisted  the  temptation  when  we  saw  his 
tusks,  but  they  looked  nice  and  thick  at  about  forty-five 
yards,  and  whispering  almost  simultaneously,  "  He  is  good 


ELEPHANT  HUNTING 


20I 


enough,"  we  opened  fire  with  a  .450  bullet  near  the  right 
eye.  He  staggered  and  reeled  to  one  side,  and  for  a  second 
looked  as  if  he  was  going  to  turn  and  make  off.  Then  he 
recovered,  and  faced  us  again  ;  a  second  .450  in  the  fore- 
head seemed  to  stimulate  rather  than  discourage  him,  and, 
pulling  himself  together,  with  ears  outspread  and  trunk 
upHfted  he  made  straight  for  the  spot  on  which  we  stood. 
At  the  first  report  the  rest  of  the  group  had  made  incon- 
tinently off  into  the  bush — yet  not  all  of  them.  Another 
large  bull  whom  we  had  hardly  noticed  standing  by  during 
his  first  advance,  turned  and  joined  his  comrade,  and  for  a 
few  steps  they  came  on  side  by  side,  and  it  looked  as  if  we 
were  going  to  have  a  couple  of  them  to  reckon  with  ; 
then,  at  a  third  shot  at  the  wounded  one  from  the  .360, 
the  second  one  turned  off  at  an  angle  and  disappeared,  and 
the  veteran  came  on  alone.  He  was  within  twenty  yards 
when  the  .360's  second  barrel  missed  fire.  Regardless  of  a 
bullet  in  the  chest  from  the  .350  that  Chuma  was  carrying, 
he  still  kept  on.  There  was  now  just  time  for  the  one 
carrying  the  .360  to  reload  and  little  more — the  other  with 
the  .450  having  turned  to  descend  into  the  donga  so  as 
to  attack  his  flank.  We  had  the  advantage  of  him  in 
our  position  on  the  bank,  and  the  next  shot  took  effect. 
He  was  within  fifteen  paces  and  just  beginning  to  clamber 
up  when  a  bullet  between  the  eyes  toppled  him  over  in  his 
tracks. 

It  had  been  a  trying  moment  for  the  natives  apparently. 
Chuma,  of  course,  had  stood  his  ground,  and  Nkamba  and 
Musa  with  spare  cartridges  were  within  a  foot  or  two  all 
the  while,  but  the  rest,  headed  by  Udala  and  the  luncheon 
baskets,  had  lost  no  time  in  seeking  safety  in  flight.  Once 
assured  that  the  elephant  had  succumbed  they  reappeared 
— but  not  without  an  effort  to  communicate  their  fears  to 
us — "  Don't  go  up  to  it,"  they  cried  frantically,  "  don't  go 
up  to  it !  It  is  not  dead  !  It  is  not  dead — it  will  get  up 
again  !  "  Chuma's  contempt  was  for  once  too  much  for  his 
customary  caution,  and  with  a  bound  he  was  on  the  top  of 
the  fallen  beast  and  dancing  a  tarantella  on  its  ribs.  How- 
ever, it  was  as  good  as  dead,  and  after  a  blink  and  a  sigh 


202     THROUGH  THE   HEART  OF  AFRICA 


they  all  had  to  admit  it.  "  By  George,"  we  said  almost 
simultaneously,  "  what  a  chance  for  a  cinematograph 
missed."  We  had  been  told  just  after  leaving  Entebbe 
that  a  cinematographer  had  recently  arrived  in  the  country 
with  the  express  purpose  of  obtaining  a  record  of  the 
death  of  an  elephant,  and  there  was  no  doubt,  so  extra- 
ordinary had  been  the  combination  of  circumstances — 
position,  view,  light,  and  every  detail  of  the  scene — that 
pictures  of  unique  interest  might  have  been  secured  in 
comparative  safety. 

He  stood  lo  ft.  6  in.  at  the  shoulder.  His  tusks 
measured  55|-  in.  and  55  in.,  showing  38  in.  and  35  in. 
outside,  with  a  circumference  of  18  in.  each  and  weighing 
49  lbs.  and  46  lbs. 

The  following  day  we  moved  south-east  vm  Samu- 
soni's,  a  camp  at  the  junction  of  the  Foweira  and  Palango 
roads,  to  Benjamin's,  a  few  miles  south  of  the  latter. 

There  was  plenty  of  fresh  spoor  on  the  road  near 
Samusoni's,  and  later  in  the  day  we  heard  elephants 
trumpeting  close  to  our  path,  but  in  both  cases  it  was 
almost  certainly  the  herd  out  of  which  we  had  killed  two 
days  before,  and  we  pushed  on.  Chuma,  who  had  pre- 
ceded us,  went  off  thinking  he  had  possibly  found  some- 
thing in  the  tracks  of  a  group  of  three,  but  came  in  soon 
after  us,  reporting  them  to  be  a  cow  and  two  young  bulls. 

Scouts  sent  out  on  our  arrival  returned  in  the  evening 
reporting  nothing,  but  next  morning  our  hopes  were 
raised  by  the  arrival  of  a  native  from  a  neighbouring 
shamba  who  declared  that  his  brother  had  just  seen  three 
large  elephants  feeding  close  to  his  gardens.  We  started 
off  at  once,  and  reached  the  shamba  before  midday,  but 
we  were  doomed  to  be  the  victims  of  native  inaccuracy, 
and  to  the  exasperation  of  another  blank  day's  hunting. 
We  were  taken  to  the  spot  by  the  man  who  said  he  had 
seen  them,  and  shown  the  very  tree  on  which  they  had 
been  feeding,  he  declared,  but  six  hours  before.  He  had 
particularly  noticed  the  tusks  of  the  biggest,  he  said,  and 
they  measured  at  least  four  feet  outside  the  head.  Half- 
an-hour's  tracking  convinced  us  that  he  had  been  drawing 


The  SlKIl'I'ING  A.NU  L'l'KOOTING  OF  SEVERAL  LARGE  TREES. 


ELEPHANT  HUNTING 


203 


on  his  imagination  and  that  the  spoor  was  quite  twenty 
hours  old,  but  a  few  minutes  later  we  found  a  spot  where 
they  had  rested  the  previous  evening  and  then  separated, 
and  we  took  up  and  followed  the  tracks  of  the  biggest. 
About  noon,  the  spoor  being  still  quite  stale,  we  were 
startled  by  a  rumble  on  our  left.  Mounting  a  convenient 
ant-hill,  we  found  ourselves  looking  at  a  large  bull 
elephant  standing  by  himself  in  the  shade,  broadside  on, 
at  about  sixty  yards.  He  was  partly  hidden  by  the 
foliage  of  a  small  tree,  but  the  grass  being  short  and  the 
wind  right,  there  was  nothing  to  prevent  us  getting  close 
enough  to  be  sure  of  his  tusks.  We  eventually  got 
within  less  than  ten  paces  on  one  side,  and  again  some 
twenty  on  the  other,  without  him  being  aware  of  our 
presence,  but  only  to  find  that  his  tusks  were  smaller 
than  either  of  our  first  kills,  being  probably  a  good  deal 
under  forty  pounds. 

It  was  a  tempting  chance  for  a  photograph,  but  we 
did  not  want  to  run  the  risk  of  having  to  shoot  a  beast 
with  thirty-pound  ivory,  so  we  turned  away  and  left  him. 
Water  was  found  a  little  way  off,  and  while  we  sat  and 
lunched  we  could  still  hear  him  sleepily  flapping  his  ears 
amongst  the  leaves  and  pulling  off  an  occasional  branch 
of  the  tree  under  which  he  was  standing. 

Reports  of  nothing  more  than  a  few  cows  and  small 
bulls  greeted  us  on  our  return  to  camp,  and  we  decided 
to  move  on  next  day  to  Kishilisi,  on  Port  Masindi,  on  the 
Victoria  Nile. 


XIV 


ELEPHANT  HUNTING  IN  THE  MASINDI 
DISTRICT— II 

The  Victoria  Nile  at  Kishilisi — Jackson's  hartebeeste  and  steinbok — 
Back  to  Kiliandongo's  — More  blank  days  after  elephants — Risks  run 
by  sJiamba  dwellers — Our  carriers  go  on  strike,  but  are  appeased — 
Still  more  blank  days— Our  third  elephant — An  evening  outing — 
Crossing  the  Nile — Palango — Repatriation  of  ourRhodesian  natives 
— Arrival  of  Captain  Place. 

Reaching  the  Nile  in  three  and  a  half  hours  we  followed 
it  more  or  less  south  and  reached  camp  at  noon.  The 
landscape  close  to  the  river  presents  a  very  different 
aspect  to  the  country  in  which  we  had  been  travelling  for 
upwards  of  a  month.  The  river  itself  is  thickly  edged 
with  papyrus,  the  grass  on  all  sides  is  much  shorter,  and 
the  trees,  which  are  plentiful,  are  mainly  thorns. 

The  soil  is  black  and  evidently  fertile,  and  large 
quantities  of  excellent  cotton  is  grown  by  the  natives,  as 
well  as  crops  of  millet,  maize,  kasava,  sim-sim,  and  sweet 
potatoes. 

The  population  live  in  the  non-gregarious  shamba 
settlements,  as  in  the  rest  of  Bunyoro  and  Buganda, 
cultivating  the  land  all  round  their  dwellings.  They  do 
not  appear  to  like  the  actual  river  bank,  and  do  but  little 
fishing. 

Of  the  natives  some  were  Banyoro,  and  others,  pro- 
bably Bakedi,  from  the  east  side  of  the  river.  The  latter 
were  the  much  less  clad  and  less  civilised  in  appearance, 
but  were  unquestionably  the  finer  in  bearing  and  ph^'sique. 
Elephants,  we  were  told,  came  to  the  neighbourhood 
during  the  rains,  but  none  had  been  seen  or  heard  of  for 
at  least  a  month.    Game  of  other  kinds  was  reported  to 

be  found,  as  a  rule,  feeding  within  a  mile  or  two,  so  we 

204 


Chu.mamaboko  standi.nc;  by  a  Jackson's  Haktebeeste. 


ELEPHANT  HUNTING 


205 


gave  ourselves  a  rest  from  the  more  strenuous  form  of 
sport  and  were  content  with  securing  a  steinbok  and 
three  hartebeeste  in  two  short  outings.  This  was,  as  a 
matter  of  fact,  the  only  game  besides  elephant  and  the 
forest  hog  that  we  had  seen  during  the  forty  odd  days  we 
had  been  travelling  in  Uganda. 

The  third  day  after  reaching  Kishilisi  we  retraced  our 
steps  to  Kiliandongo,  and  heard  on  our  arrival  no  less 
than  three  distinct  reports  of  elephants  in  the  near 
neighbourhood,  probably  all  of  the  same  herd. 

Starting  at  daybreak  for  another  attempt,  we  had  a 
fruitless  day  of  ten  and  a  half  hours,  during  nine  of  which 
we  were  on  the  move.  It  began  with  another  instance  of 
the  astounding  inaccuracy  of  the  local  natives.  One  of 
them,  just  after  we  had  heard  some  trumpeting  close  to 
the  road,  led  us  to  a  spot  where,  he  declared,  he  had 
seen  a  huge  solitary  bull  feeding  that  very  morning. 
He  had,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  seen  nothing  of  the  kind. 
There  had  been  a  bull  elephant  there  without  a  doubt, 
but  it  had  not  been  there  that  morning,  it  had  not  been 
there  alone,  and — he  had  certainly  not  seen  it.  This 
piece  of  native  ineptitude  delayed  us  a  little  in  coming 
up  again  with  the  herd,  but  it  was  not  a  full  hour  before 
unmistakable  rumblings  and  trumpetings  showed  that 
we  were  pretty  nearly  in  the  middle  of  it.  Then  followed 
a  morning  which,  but  for  the  merest  details,  was  just  the 
same  as  any  other  of  the  long  days  we  had  spent  among 
the  Uganda  elephants. 

There  was  the  same  eight  to  twelve  foot  grass,  the 
same  big  tree  from  which  we  located  the  various  sections 
of  the  herd,  the  same  huge  bull  that  looked  so  promising 
at  about  three  hundred  yards  as  he  emerged  from  a  thick 
patch  into  an  open  space  as  if  coming  straight  for  us,  and 
then  did  not  even  come  at  all,  the  same  batches  of  calves 
with  their  mothers,  and  of  old  cows  that  seemed  for  an 
instant  as  if  they  had  detected  us  and  might  be  going  to 
make  trouble,  and  the  same  failure  at  the  end  of  it  all. 

After  the  herd  had  made  their  first  move,  and  we  had 
moved  after  them  some  little  way,  our  hopes  went  rather 


2o6    THROUGH  THE   HEART  OF  AFRICA 


higher  than  they  had  been  for  some  time.  We  found 
ourselves  tracking  an  isolated  group  of  four  or  five  bulls, 
whose  spoor  contained  some  of  the  largest  footmarks  we 
had  seen.  A  rather  breathless  chase  along  their  well- 
beatenbut  tortuous  tracks  through  the  highest  grass  brought 
us  suddenly  upon  them  having  a  mud  bath  in  a  swampy 
pool,  and  only  partly  hidden  by  a  screen  of  small  trees. 
But  before  they  moved  lazily  on  we  had  a  good  view  of 
their  tusks,  and  there  was  not  a  twent^'-pounder  amongst 
them. 

Poor  old  Chumamaboko,  returning  from  twenty 
minutes'  scouting,  sat  down  and  gradually  but  freely  gave 
vent  to  his  disappointed  feelings. 

"  Waugh,"  he  said,  "  what  is  the  good  of  trying  to 
hunt  elephants  in  this  country  of  grass,  of  huge  herds 
and  no  big  bulls  ?  There  a7'e  no  big  bulls.  They  have 
gone  somewhere  else.  Fikimgulu  (big  tuskers)  don't  walk 
about  with  herds  of  cows  and  calves." 

"  Not  in  your  country,  Chuma,"  we  said,  "  but  they  do 
in  this.  Look  at  the  big  tusks  you  have  seen  yourself 
that  have  been  got  by  the  white  men  in  this  country. 
They  were  found  in  the  big  herds." 

He  snorted  frank  scepticism,  and  a  local  native 
chipped  in. 

"  There  are  big  ones,  and  they  are  with  the  big  herds, 
but  they  keep  in  front  and  the  cows  keep  all  round  them 
so  that  they  cannot  be  seen." 

We  had  heard  this  before,  and  found  it  rather  diffi- 
cult to  believe ;  but  to  Chuma,  coming  from  a  local 
romancer,  too,  it  was  the  last  straw. 

"  You  have  seen  them,  have  you  ?  You  have  seen 
them  ?  You  !  Oh  yes  !  And  you  have  seen  bull  elephants 
feeding,  you  have  seen,  and  measured,  their  tusks,  you 
have  brought  us  to  the  place,  and — they  had  not  been 
there  since  the  last  sun  had  set.  You  saw  a  mighty 
chikungulu  this  morning,  alone  ;  you  took  us  to  the  spot : 
ten  cows  had  passed — the  night  before.  You  have  seen 
them,  have  you  ? — you  have  seen  the  cow-guard  round 
the  bulls  ?    Then  tell  me  where  is  their  spoor  ?    Do  the 


ELEPHANT  HUNTING 


207 


cows  lift  them  off  their  feet  so  that  they  leave  no  tracks  ? 
And  do  they  lie  upon  them  and  cover  them  so  that  I  see 
nothing  of  them  when  I  look  down  upon  them  from  the 
tree-tops  ?  Oh  yes  !  you  have  doubtless  seen  them  ;  let 
me  see,  and  perhaps  I  will  believe." 

Chuma's  feelings  were  very  much  our  own,  but  as 
he  was  getting  discouraged,  we  did  our  best  to  disguise 
them.  If  we  had  any  doubts  left,  the  next  half-hour  effectu- 
ally dispelled  them.  Less  than  half  a  mile  on  the  herd  had 
stopped  again,  and  first  from  one  tree  and  then  another  we 
got  a  view  of  every  beast  in  it  while  it  was  slowly  moving 
off,  the  cows  and  calves  trumpeting  and  squealing,  the  bulls 
nonchalantly  uprooting  trees  and  tearing  off  branches  as 
they  glided  solemnly  in  their  wake.  There  were  no  good 
tuskers,  so  we  sat  down  and  lunched,  and  then  turned 
campwards. 

The  beasts  had  been  within  six  hundred  yards  of  us 
while  we  rested,  and  were  still  audible  for  nearly  an  hour 
of  the  two  and  a  half  that  it  took  us  to  get  back. 

We  passed  through  several  small  shambas  on  our  way 
that  afforded  ample  corroboration  of  the  complaints  we 
had  heard  from  the  natives  that  the  elephants  were  in- 
vading their  shambas  and  destroying  their  crops  and 
bananas,  and  occasionally  killing  the  inhabitants. 

It  is  really  rather  surprising  that  their  huts  were  not 
more  often  annihilated.  The  shamba  system,  with  the 
huts  of  the  owners  scattered  over  a  large  area  each  in 
the  middle  of  his  plantation  and  gardens,  is  of  course 
better  adapted  for  watching  the  marauders  than  that  of 
the  large  compact  village  with  its  cultivated  land  neces- 
sarily some  distance  away  in  the  bush.  But  considering 
the  flimsy  construction  of  most  of  the  shamba  dwellings 
and  their  isolation,  it  is  not  to  be  wondered  at  that  a  herd 
of  elephants,  intent  on  a  meal,  sometimes  tramples  them 
and  their  inhabitants  underfoot  without  noticing  where 
it  is  going. 

The  elephant's  notorious  aversion  to  the  smell  of 
human  beings  would  ensure  immunity  from  such  tramp- 
ling of  the  inhabitants  if  they  lived  in  villages — though 
then  they  could  not  guard  their  crops  so  efficiently. 


2o8     THROUGH   THE   HEART  OF  AFRICA 


We  were  to  have  our  patience  still  further  tested  in 
the  evening.  Our  carriers  presented  themselves  in  a 
body,  and  demanded  their  pay.  It  was  possible  that  the 
dearth  of  small  change,  from  which  nearly  the  whole 
Protectorate  was  at  that  time  suffering,  had  aroused  their 
suspicions  as  to  our  solvency,  so  we  met  them  with  a 
promise  that  they  should  be  paid  up  to  date  on  arrival  at 
Palango,  adding  that  our  stock  of  rupees  was  short,  but 
that  a  messenger  was  on  the  way  with  a  fresh  supply 
(which  was  a  fact).  And  we  further  reminded  them  that 
the  conclusion  of  a  month's  work  did  not  necessarily  mean 
the  conclusion  of  their  contract,  which  was  that  they  were 
to  accompany  us  as  long  as  we  wanted  them,  and  we  left 
it  at  that  for  the  night.  Early  in  the  morning,  as  we  were 
on  the  point  of  leaving  camp  to  investigate  a  fresh  report 
of  elephants,  we  were  informed  that  the  porters  had  struck 
work.  Summoned  and  asked  what  more  they  wanted  to 
say,  they  replied  with  no  uncertain  voice  that  they  had  no 
intention  of  going  to  Palango.  They  would  not  mind 
taking  us  to  Butiaba,  whither  we  had  told  them  at  Mubendi 
that  we  might  be  going,  but  nothing  would  induce  them 
to  cross  the  Nile.  It  was  in  vain  that  we  assured  them 
that  Palango  station  was  only  three  miles  across  the  Nile, 
and  only  two  days'  journey  from  where  we  were.  They 
had  their  own  notions  of  Lango  amenities  and  Lango 
hospitality  to  strangers — coloured,  no  doubt,  by  a  story 
we  had  heard  at  Samusoni's  from  a  youth  who  had  just 
had  some  cattle  looted  from  him  in  their  country,  and 
who  was  ready  to  paint  them  and  their  delinquencies  in 
any  kind  of  colour. 

Ten  of  these  malcontents  were  willing  to  go  on  with 
us,  but  as  the  rest  seemed  to  have  made  up  their  minds, 
there  was  nothing  to  do  but  to  make  light  of  it.  Any  or 
all  of  them,  we  said,  could  go  home  if  they  liked,  and  we 
had  no  intention  of  trying  to  stop  them,  but — of  course 
they  realised  that  they  were  running  the  risk  not  only  of 
losing  their  pay  but  of  being  imprisoned  for  breach  of 
contract  at  Mubendi.  "  Go  at  once,"  we  said,  "  if  you  are 
going,  and  we  will  get  substitutes  from  the  Mwami,  and — 


ELEPHANT  HUNTING 


209 


thank  you  for  the  present  of  the  pay  due  to  you."  With  the 
exception  of  the  ten,  they  jumped  to  their  feet  without 
another  word,  shouldered  their  bundles  of  meat,  &c.,  and 
started  gaily  down  the  road  towards  Masindi.  The  ten 
sat  and  smiled — and  it  was  not  altogether  at  our  expense. 
We  then  made  inquiries,  and  learnt  that  the  local  supply 
of  men  might  amount  to  a  dozen,  but  certainly  no  more, 
as  all  the  males  were  away  on  telegraph  construction  work 
or  something  of  the  kind.  Asking  them  to  do  their  best 
we  went  off,  wondering  how  on  earth  we  were  going  to 
get  to  Gondokoro  in  time  to  catch  a  steamer  on  the  28th 
if  the  carriers  persisted  in  their  bluff,  for  though  we  could 
get  to  Palango  with  twenty-two  men,  it  would  have  to  be 
in  reliefs,  and  would  take  seven  or  eight  days. 

Then  came  the  day's  work — yet  once  more  to  end  in 
failure.  Again  the  local  natives  put  us  on  to  a  hopelessly 
wrong  scent.  Declaring  that  they  had  seen  a  herd  that 
morning,  they  brought  us  to  spoor  that  was  at  least  twenty- 
four  hours  old.  When,  in  response  to  their  entreaties,  we 
eventually  came  on  something  fresh,  it  was  not  elephant 
spoor  at  all,  but  the  tracks  and  the  blood  of  a  buffalo 
wounded  apparently  by  a  native  hunter  the  day  before. 
It  made  but  little  difference.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  we 
found  the  morning's  spoor  of  the  elephants  in  an  hour's 
time,  only  to  find  unmistakable  proofs  that  they  were 
changing  their  feeding-ground  and  had  been  going  so 
steadily  since  dawn  that  it  would  have  been  quite  hopeless 
to  catch  them  up. 

Returning  wearily  to  camp,  we  found  some  consola- 
tion in  the  discovery  that  our  carriers'  bluff  had  failed. 
All,  without  exception,  had  returned  to  work,  and  would 
accompany  us  to  Palango.  We  smiled,  but  let  the  matter 
rest. 

Mika,  Mwami  or  Chief  of  Kiliandongo,  who  had  been 
absent,  had  meanwhile  returned  and  paid  us  a  visit  in  the 
evening.  He  was  obviously  a  man  of  position  and  import- 
ance, as  testified  by  the  refreshing  humility  with  which  our 
Hoima  guide  flopped  on  his  knees  and  remained  there  while 
conversing  with  him.    A  native  of  dignified  bearing  and 

O 


210     THROUGH   THE   HEART  OF  AFRICA 


courteous  and  easy  address,  he  came  with  his  chair  and 
his  court,  and,  smoking  one  or  two  of  our  cigarettes,  sat 
and  discussed  the  hunting  prospects  of  the  neighbourhood 
for  half-an-hour  with  the  cool  judgment  of  an  educated 
European. 

Following  his  advice  we  moved  northwards  to  Reuben 
(or  Geki).  The  road  had  been  cut  up  for  some  distance 
by  elephants — the  herd  which  we  had  followed  the  previous 
day,  and  another  that  on  investigation  proved  to  have  gone 
in  the  same  direction,  and  probably  quite  as  far.  There 
was  no  object  in  remaining,  so  we  pushed  on  the  next  day 
eastwards  to  Chisuna,  a  spot  suggested  by  Mika  as  likely 
to  bring  us  success.  Most  of  the  way  we  were  on  the 
Palango  road,  which  we  had  struck  first  at  Samusoni's. 
In  parts  it  had  been  ploughed  out  of  all  recognition  by 
elephants  that  had  been  disporting  themselves  upon  it  and 
beside  it  a  month  or  so  before. 

The  old  headman  whose  shaniba  was  close  to  our  camp 
brought  us  in  word  that  a  solitary  bull  elephant  had  been 
feeding  for  several  days  in  a  neighbouring  plantation.  A 
stick  that  was  said  to  represent  the  length  of  his  footmark 
measured  twenty-two  inches,  and  our  hopes  accordingly 
rose  higher  than  they  had  been  for  some  time.  They  would 
bring  us  word  at  dawn  should  he  revisit  his  feeding-ground 
that  night,  and  a  little  before  sunrise  we  started  oft  to 
meet  them  should  they  be  on  their  way.  But  he  had  not 
returned,  nor  was  it  known  in  which  direction  he  had 
moved.  Scouts  sent  in  likely  directions  found  nothing 
but  a  small  herd  of  insignificant  beasts,  and  our  own 
efforts  were  equally  fruitless. 

By  midday  we  had  returned  to  camp  feeling  more  dis- 
gusted than  ever  over  the  day's  failure.  It  had  not  been 
so  long  or  hard  a  day's  work  as  many  others,  but  after 
spending  day  after  day  with  huge  herds  in  which  we  knew 
we  had  but  a  remote  chance  of  finding  a  big  tusker,  it  was 
sufficiently  exasperating  that — with  what  was  the  most 
promising  prospect  of  the  whole  trip — the  beast  should 
slip  through  our  fingers. 

While  reflecting  that  evening  on  the  arduous  and 


ELEPHANT  HUNTING 


211 


profitless  days  spent  in  our  efforts  to  secure  something 
more  than  an  average  specimen  of  the  Uganda  elephant — 
to  achieve  something  a  little  beyond  the  mere  right  to 
boast  that  we  had  shot  so  many  elephants,  regardless  of 
number,  age,  sex,  or  size — we  were  reminded  of  some 
correspondence  that  appeared  in  the  Outlook  in  January 
1909.  "The  dangers  and  labour  men  will  undergo  to 
kill  big  game,"  wrote  the  contributor,  "  bear  witness  to 
the  absolute  truth  (sic)  that  taking  life  is  the  prime  object 
of  the  blood  sportsman." 

The  elephant  hunter  undoubtedly  has  one  eye  on  his 
pocket  when  discriminating  between  the  big  and  small 
tusker — 'twere  pointless  to  deny  it ;  but  this  blood-lust  in- 
dictment— well,  unless  it  be  a  case  of  self-inflicted  flagella- 
tion as  a  balm  to  a  conscience  guilty  of  past  excess,  one 
is  tempted  to  wager  that  the  petulant  dogma  of  the  inex- 
perienced platitudinist  would  not  long  withstand  a  first- 
hand knowledge  of  the  attractions  and  hardships  of  the 
pursuit  of  big  game. 

The  following  morning  brought  us  no  further  news  of 
our  elusive  bull  or  of  any  other  herd,  so  we  moved  on 
again  in  the  direction  of  Palango,  deciding  to  camp  at 
Gabrieli's,  about  fifteen  miles  farther  on. 

Our  time  was  getting  uncomfortably  short.  Even 
supposing  it  to  be  possible  to  get  carriers  at  Palango  to 
go  with  us  to  Gondokoro — about  which  we  had  no  par- 
ticular reason  for  feeling  sanguine- — we  had  but  four  days 
to  spare,  and  two  more  elephants  to  make  up  our  number. 

We  were  not  much  encouraged,  therefore,  when  we 
met  the  messenger  we  had  sent  to  Palango  a  few  days 
before  with  a  note  from  the  clerk  at  Palango  to  say  that 
Captain  Place,  the  Assistant  District  Commissioner,  was 
away  from  the  station.  However,  he  might  conceivably 
come  back  in  time,  and  at  the  worst  we  should  only  have 
to  spend  another  month  in  the  country,  and  catch  the 
January  boat  at  Gondokoro. 

Our  messenger  told  us  that  a  herd  of  elephant  had 
crossed  the  road  a  little  farther  on  the  same  morning,  and 
half-way  between  Samusoni's  (the  same  camp  at  which 


212     THROUGH   THE   HEART  OF  AFRICA 


we  had  previously  spent  a  night)  and  GabrieH's  we  came 
upon  Chuma  and  others  examining  the  spoor — not  at  all 
optimistically  ;  optimism  was  not  in  the  air.  The  spoor 
was  that  of  two  or  three  bulls  with  no  cows,  and  gave  us 
hope.  But  they  were  going  the  wrong  way,  i.e.  their  tracks 
led  south  towards  the  only  plantations  within  some  miles, 
and  must  have  been  made  before  they  went  to  feed. 
After  feeding  they  may  have  gone  left  in  the  opposite  direc- 
tion, still  farther  south.  However,  some  natives  going 
west  told  us  that  a  herd  had  crossed  the  road  and  were 
going  north,  and  that  they  had  just  heard  them  trumpet- 
ing. Chuma  would  not  express  an  opinion — he  was 
frankly  tired — and  we  decided  to  send  on  the  loads  to 
Gabrieli's  and  go  and  investigate. 

After  following  a  mixed  trail  for  a  short  distance  we 
found  ourselves  on  the  spoor  of  a  single  bull,  and  within 
an  hour  of  leaving  the  road  we  killed.  This  had  been 
quite  easy  work  ;  we  had  been  close  to  him  for  some  time, 
but  even  though  we  climbed  trees  within  a  hundred  yards 
of  him,  the  undergrowth  and  foliage  were  too  dense  to  give 
us  a  view.  Finally  from  the  top  of  a  low  ant-hill  we  caught 
sight  of  a  branch  that  he  was  shaking,  some  fifty  paces 
away,  and  within  a  couple  of  minutes  he  obliged  us  by 
emerging  from  his  hiding-place  and  coming  straight 
towards  us.  He  had  evidently  faintly  smelt  something  of 
which  he  disapproved,  and  which  he  wished  to  investigate. 
At  thirty  yards  he  showed  his  tusks,  and  though  not  the 
eighty-  or  ninety-pounder  we  had  been  dreaming  of,  he  was 
plainly  as  big  as  those  we  had  shot,  and  we  drew  a  bead. 

We  had  a  good  strategic  position  on  the  ant-hill,  and 
though  we  planted  a  few  in  his  ribs  as  he  reeled  and 
staggered  and  sat  down  with  a  squealing  trumpet-blare, 
the  first  two  in  the  forehead  would  doubtless  have  been 
enough.  His  measurements  were :  height  at  shoulder, 
ID  ft.  9  in.  ;  forefoot  diameter  21  in.,  circumference  62  in. ; 
tusks,  length  outside  lip,  42  in.  and  39  in.,  greatest  girth, 
i8|  and  18 J  in.  ;  weight  and  length,  53  lbs.  and  51  lbs. 
and  69  in.  and  66  in.  respectively. 

We  reached  camp  at  four,  and  soon  after  had  a  visit 


ELEPHANT  HUNTING 


213 


from  the  Mwami  Gabrieli,  who  told  us  very  much  the  same 
story  as  we  had  heard  at  Chisuna,  viz.  that  a  single 
huge  bull  elephant  had  been  frequenting  the  gardens  for 
several  days,  and  even  chasing  the  inhabitants  out  of  their 
shambas. 

On  our  suggestion  Gabrieli  went  off  at  once  to  tell 
his  people  to  scout  round  for  fresh  news,  and  we  wondered 
if  our  luck,  almost  too  late,  was  really  going  to  turn. 

At  five  o'clock  there  appeared  a  breathless  native,  who 
declared  that  the  said  monster  was  even  then  close  by 
near  the  gardens  of  his  shamba  ;  that  he  had,  in  obedience 
to  our  request,  been  looking  about  for  his  tracks,  when  a 
sudden  trumpet  in  his  very  ears  made  him  take  to  his 
heels.  It  was  close  enough,  he  said,  for  us  to  get  there 
and  possibly  back  again  before  dark. 

There  was  a  good  deal  of  scepticism  in  the  reception 
of  his  news,  but  he  stuck  to  his  story  under  cross- 
examination  ;  and  as  it  wanted  forty  minutes  to  sunset, 
there  was  nothing  to  be  lost,  at  any  rate,  by  following  the 
spoor  for  twenty  minutes  or  so  and  then,  if  nothing  tran- 
spired, returning  to  camp. 

It  took  us  just  twenty-five  minutes  to  reach  the  spot, 
but  only  to  find  that — with  the  best  intentions,  perhaps — 
we  had  been  fooled  again.  There  were  tracks,  it  is  true, 
but  they  were  of  a  cow  and  one  or  two  calves,  and 
certainly  some  six  or  seven  hours  old. 

Now  there  was  an  interesting  contribution  to  the 
study  of  Bantu  psychology.  Our  informant  had  obviously 
not  seen  or  heard  the  beasts  just  before  he  had  come  to 
tell  us.  It  is  more  than  probable  that  he  had  not  seen  or 
heard  them  at  all,  and  that  he  had  only  just  begun,  in 
obedience  to  Gabrieli's  orders,  to  look  for  the  tracks  of 
the  notorious  bull.  While  looking  he  comes  upon  traces 
of  some  elephants  :  he  does  not  stop  to  investigate  :  he  is 
looking  for  the  traces  of  a  big  bull  elephant  who  is  a  con- 
stant marauder  and  who  is  credited  with  ferocity  towards 
any  human  being  who  crosses  his  path,  and  he  immediately 
jumps  to  the  conclusion  that  the  tracks  he  has  seen  are 
those  of  that  bull  and  none  other.    The  mental  process 


214    THROUGH  THE  HEART  OF  AFRICA 

by  which  he  brought  himself  deliberately  to  state  that  he 
had  actually  seen  and  been  put  to  flight  by  the  animal  is 
harder  to  analyse.  It  could  not  have  been  a  mischievous 
attempt  to  deceive  ;  for  all  he  knew,  condign  punishment 
might  have  been  meted  out  to  him  then  and  there  for  his 
falsehood,  and,  further,  he  took  an  obvious  pride  in  being 
given  the  opportunity  of  proving  the  accuracy  of  his 
account. 

Little  use  in  either  reasoning  with  or  revenging  one- 
self upon  such.  One  can  only  dismiss  it  as  an  unusually 
striking  instance  of  the  deficiency  in  the  power  of  asso- 
ciation that  is  a  characteristic  of  the  negro  intellect. 

Naturally  we  did  not  waste  any  more  time  on  the 
spoor,  and  retracing  our  steps  reached  camp  again  just 
before  dark. 

Some,  if  not  all  of  us  had  been  in  considerable  danger 
on  the  way  out  to  those  gardens,  though  we  only  found  it 
out  just  as  we  got  there.  Our  amiable  old  "  muttyantpala" 
(or  headman  of  the  carriers),  who  was  allowed  a  badge  of 
office  in  the  shape  of  an  old  Snider  rifle  (without  ammuni- 
tion), apparently  elated  at  the  possible  prospect  of  a  second 
elephant  in  one  day,  or  at  his  unique  opportunity  of  being 
in  at  the  death,  accompanied  us  on  our  sally,  brandishing 
his  weapon  and  executing  a  silent  but  fantastic  war-dance 
round  us,  or  prancing  along  with  the  weapon  at  the 
"  present "  as  if  facing  some  tremendous  beast. 

As  we  were  on  the  point  of  turning  back,  somebody 
happened  to  look  closely  at  his  gun.  It  was  loaded — 
he  had  got  a  cartridge  from  somewhere — and  at  full-cock. 
B^or  something  over  a  mile,  mostly  through  tangled  grass 
and  creepers,  he  had  been  carrying  it  thus.  The  slightest 
thing  might  have  sent  it  oft',  and  goodness  only  knew 
where  the  thing  had  been  pointing  all  the  time. 

The  next  day,  while  waiting  at  Gabrieli's  for  the  tusks, 
a  note  reached  us  from  Captain  Place  saying  that  he 
hoped  to  be  able  to  get  us  what  carriers  we  needed  in 
four  days'  time,  and  further  encouraging  us  with  regard 
to  the  prospects  of  finding  elephant  on  the  Kole  River  on 
our  way  to  Nimule. 


ELEPHANT  HUNTING 


215 


Under  these  circumstances  we  decided  to  spend  no 
more  time  in  the  Masindi  district,  although  another  herd 
had  been  reported  close,  but  to  go  on  to  Palango  at 
once. 

Leaving  at  about  seven  o'clock  we  reached  the  ferry 
in  two  and  a  half  hours.  The  river  proper  here  is  some 
four  hundred  yards  broad,  and  is  fringed  on  the  western 
side  with  a  broad  belt  of  swamp. 

The  crossing  occupied  each  boat-load  half-an-hour, 
the  tedious  part  of  it  being  the  negotiation  of  the  muddy 
and  tortuous  passage  through  the  fringe.  A  canoe  arrived 
at  our  landing-place  just  at  the  right  moment,  and  others 
were  hastened  from  the  opposite  side  as  soon  as  we 
reached  the  open  water.  The  canoes  that  took  us  over 
were  some  of  the  hugest  dug-outs  we  had  ever  seen. 
That  in  which  we  crossed  comfortably  held  a  dozen  of  us 
with  a  few  loads  and  our  bicycles,  while  there  were  others 
which  were  used  for  transporting  sheep  and  cattle.  One 
of  these  we  met  when  half-way  across  carrying  a  few  of 
both  kinds  of  stock,  tethered  by  rope  passed  through 
holes  near  the  top  of  the  gunwale. 

On  the  farther  bank  we  found  some  unusually  good 
specimens  of  the  conical  basket  in  which  the  local  natives 
catch  their  fish,  but  had  not  an  opportunity  of  seeing 
it  used. 

Three  miles  on  a  straight  road  up  a  slight  incline 
brought  us  to  Palango  station  ;  the  last  mile  led  through 
a  regular  belt  of  borassus  palms,  with  practically  no  other 
trees,  and  the  last  few  hundred  yards  between  flourishing 
cotton  plantations. 

The  offices  are  placed  on  high  ground  at  the  foot  of 
a  bunch  of  huge  stony  kopjes.  At  the  top  of  a  pass 
through  these  is  built  the  resident  official's  house,  with  a 
stupendous  dome-shaped  rock  on  its  south-eastern  side. 
It  was  hot,  but  there  was  a  pleasant  breeze.  The  view 
from  the  station  was  spacious,  but  monotonous  and  flat, 
broken  only  by  a  clump  of  low  hills  to  the  south-east  and 
the  low  range  beyond  the  river  towards  Port  Masindi  to 
the  south-west. 


2i6     THROUGH  THE   HEART  OF  AFRICA 


Captain  Place  was  still  away,  but  had  kindly  sent  word 
that  we  were  to  make  ourselves  at  home,  so  we  pitched 
our  tents  in  an  open  space  amongst  the  rocks  near  his 
house. 

Our  Mubendi  carriers  were  paid  off,  and  returned  to 
their  homes  the  following  day.  Our  Wawemba  had 
by  this  time  made  up  their  minds  that  they  had 
come  quite  far  enough — if  not  too  far — already,  and 
nothing  would  induce  them  to  contemplate  the  prospect 
of  coming  the  rest  of  the  way  to  Gondokoro  and  return- 
ing by  the  Nimule-Butiaba  route  by  boat.  We  tried  to 
convince  them  that  it  would  entail  their  being  but 
very  little  longer  away  from  home,  but  did  not  press 
the  point. 

With  Musa  and  the  two  servants  we  had  engaged  at 
Hoima,  as  well  as  the  boy  Kasonde,  who  was  to  come 
right  through,  we  were,  of  course,  quite  adequately 
staffed. 

They  had  done  an  exceptionally  long  journey  and  in 
— to  them — exceptionally  strange  lands,  and  they  had 
really  done  remarkably  well.  The  Central  African  native 
is  not  a  traveller  by  nature,  and  adapts  himself  less  easily 
to  new  conditions  and  altered  modes  of  life  than  the 
white  man.  Added  to  their  bewilderment  at  strange 
coinage,  strange  languages,  and  strange  foods  was  their 
conviction  that,  at  the  best,  it  was  going  to  be  nearly  half 
a  year  before  they  saw  their  homes  again.  Striking  as 
was  their  confidence  in  us  generally,  they  found  it  diffi- 
cult to  believe  that  a  journey  on  which  we  had  spent 
nearly  five  months  could  be  accomplished  by  direct  routes 
in  less  than  ten  weeks. 

As  we  had  made  arrangements  for  their  passage  on 
the  lake  steamer  from  Entebbe  to  Mwanza,  and  for  their 
maintenance  should  they  be  delayed  while  waiting  for 
connections  en  route,  there  was  little  likelihood  of  their 
meeting  with  any  difficulties  on  the  way ;  and,  as  a 
matter  of  fact,  we  heard  in  the  course  of  time  that  they 
reached  their  homes  without  mishap  in  nine  and  a  half 
weeks,  having  drawn  without  any  hitch  the  ration  allow- 


Fish  Basket  on  the  \'ictoria  Nile. 


ELEPHANT  HUNTING  217 

ances  we  had  deposited  for  them  at  Entebbe,  Mwanza, 
Tabora,  and  Abercorn.^ 

Captain  Place  returned  two  days  later,  and  lost  no 
time  in  procuring  carriers  for  our  journey  to  Gondokoro, 
meanwhile  making  us  his  guests. 

^  They  have  now  rejoined  us  once  more  in  Northern  Rhodesia,  and  are  none 
the  worse  for  their  long  journey. 


XV 


THROUGH  THE  LANGO  AND  ACHOLI 
COUNTRY 

The  Lango — The  system  of  governing  through  Baganda  agents — 
Description  of  the  clothing,  ornaments,  accoutrements,  villages, 
and  huts  of  the  Lango — Start  from  Palango — Our  escorts  and 
carriers — Travelling  in  the  Lango  country — Two  swampy  rivers — • 
Mount  Moru — Reception  at  Mwaka's — The  Lango  at  work — Mwaka's 
"army" — Gulu — The  Acholi — A  hunting  party — Oliya's  village — 
His  cadet  corps — More  trouble  with  the  bicycle — Nimule. 

Once  across  the  Victoria  Nile  we  had  left  behind  us  the 
better  known  regions  of  Uganda  with  their  advanced 
and  partly  civilised  inhabitants,  and  had  entered  a  wilder 
region — one  concerning  which  very  little  is  known,  and 
which  is  peopled  by  races  as  yet  untamed  and  un- 
sophisticated. It  was  the  beginning  of  a  section  of 
our  journey  that  was  rich  in  ethnographical  interest,  and 
over  which  we  would  willingly  have  lingered  had  we 
not  had  to  hasten  our  steps  to  catch  a  steamer  at  the 
other  end. 

Geographically,  too,  interesting  and  useful  work  might 
have  been  done,  for  though  the  district  commissioners  at 
Palango,  Koba,  and  Nimule  have  entered  the  country, 
no  European  had  passed  through  direct  from  the  first- 
named  station  to  the  last,  and  but  little  mapping  has  been 
undertaken  in  any  direction.  However,  the  making  even 
of  sketch-maps  takes  time,  and  having  to  cover  about 
two  hundred  and  seventy-five  miles  in  sixteen  or  seven- 
teen days,  we  decided  that  it  would  be  hopeless  to 
attempt  it. 

In  the  study  of  the  interesting  races  through  whose 
country  we  passed  we  were  a  little  more  fortunate,  as  we 
had  continual  opportunities  for  observing  them  in  spite 

2lS 


THE  LANGO  AND  ACHOLI  COUNTRY  219 


of  the  short  time  at  our  disposal.  Not  only  did  we  live 
amongst  them  all  the  time,  but  the  friendly  nature  of  our 
reception  enabled  us  to  gain  a  fairly  close  insight  into  the 
nature  and  habits  of  the  Lango  and  Acholi  at  home. 
Both  Captain  Tufnell  and  Captain  Place  warned  us  that 
after  the  first  two  days  we  should  probably  see  no  natives 
at  all  in  the  villages,  and  certainly  no  women,  as  they 
would  all  flee  into  the  bush  at  our  approach.  As  it 
turned  out,  at  no  stage  in  the  journey  did  any  natives 
show  less  concern  at  our  arrival — not  a  soul  allowing  our 
presence  to  interfere  in  any  way  with  the  ordinary  tenor 
of  his  life.  This  was  all  the  more  remarkable  not  only 
because  no  other  travellers  had  passed  that  way,  and  the 
advent  of  two  Europeans  might  consequently  be  looked 
upon  as  a  novelty,  but  also  because  the  relations  between 
the  administration  and  the  Lango  are  not  yet  free  from 
occasional  [^differences  of  opinion.  Indeed  it  was  only 
while  we  were  at  Palango  that  Captain  Place  returned 
from  taking  steps  to  avenge  the  death  of  one  of  the 
Baganda  agents  and  his  followers.  Accompanied  as  we 
were,  therefore,  by  a  police  escort,  the  natives  might 
easily  have  suspected  us  of  being  concerned  with  these 
reprisals,  but  our  presence  amongst  them  aroused  neither 
fear  nor  curiosity. 

The  Lango  and  their  northern  neighbours  the  Acholi 
are  allied  to,  and  speak  practically  the  same  tongue  as, 
the  Jaluo  Kavirondo  in  the  westernmost  province  of 
British  East  Africa,  and  the  Bakedi  (which  only  means 
Naked  People)  who  live  to  the  north  of  the  Ripon  Falls. 
This  group  appears  to  come  of  a  different  stock  to  the 
races  around  them,  their  language  not  being  a  "  Bantu  " 
tongue,  but,  apparently,  a  guttural  mixture  of  Nilotic  and 
Gala  origin  tinged  with  West  African  phonology.^ 

1  According  to  Sir  Harry  Johnston  ^Tke  Uganda  Protectorate,  vol.  ii.),  the 
Nile  negroes — including  Shiluk>  Dinka,  Acholi,  and  Lango,  &c — were  probably 
driven  from  the  north  by  the  first  determined  Hamitic  invasion  of  the  Egyptian 
Soudan  and  Abyssinia,  and  in  places  were  checked  by  the  thinner  stream  of 
Hamitic  immigrants  (Gala)  who  were  continually  entering  negro  Nile-land  from 
the  north-east.  This  created  the  Masai  and  Suk  types,  and  the  temporary 
successes  of  this  powerful  blend  carried  the  modified  Nile  languages  westward  as 
far  as  the  Bari  country,  where  the  language  became  tinged  with  West  African 


220     THROUGH  THE  HEART  OF  AFRICA 

To  start  the  administration  of  the  Lango  country  ^ 
recourse  has  been  had  to  native  "  agents  "  who  are  re- 
cruited from  the  Baganda.  This  system  was  apparently 
inevitable  owing  to  local  conditions,  but  is  generally 
admitted  to  be  an  unfortunate  necessity,  and  the  obvious 
disadvantages  of  such  a  system  appear  to  have  been 
aggravated  by  the  inadequate  scale  of  pay  allowed  to  these 
agents.  There  are  ten  of  them  in  the  Lango  country, 
and  they  are  scattered  about  in  small  stockaded  forts,  in 
which  they  live  and  from  which  they  control  the  inhabi- 
tants, getting  them  in  for  road  work,  which,  as  the  poll- 
tax  has  not  yet  been  introduced,  is  the  only  form  of 
taxation  to  which  they  are  at  present  subjected.  Each 
agent  has  a  staff  of  fourteen  armed  followers,  Baganda 
like  himself,  and — excepting  the  head  agent,  who  receives 
Rs.30 — is  paid  Rs.io  per  month. 

Theoretically  the  agents  are  all  chiefs  whose  followers 
accompany  them  for  nothing  on  account  of  their  position, 
but  we  gathered  that  only  two  out  of  the  ten  have  any 
pretensions  to  that  title,  and  that  therefore  their  followers 
do  not  come  to  the  Lango  country  without  expecting  to 
benefit  financially  by  so  doing.  As  Rs.io  is  of  course 
quite  inadequate  pay  for  fifteen  men,  they  add  to  their 
salaries  by  keeping  trade  goods  for  the  purchase  of  sheep. 
This  stock  of  trade  goods  tends  to  become  a  mere  cloak 
for  illegal  confiscation  or  for  appropriating  to  themselves 
stock  that  has  been  confiscated  in  the  name  of  the  Govern- 
ment.   In  other  words,  they  are  tempted  either  to  steal 

phonology.  The  constant  stream  of  Nilotic  negroes  following  one  another  in 
waves  of  immigration,  carried  this  negro  type  and  dialect  to  the  north-east  of 
N'ictoria  Nyanza  (Jaluo  Kavirondo).  South-west  of  the  Victoria  Nile  and  west 
of  the  Bahr-el-Gebel  (except  for  the  Aluro  to  the  north-west  of  Lake  Albert) 
they  were  checked  by  the  Bantu,  who  sprang  some  three  thousand  years  ago  from 
a  horde  of  West  African  natives  that  poured  into  these  parts,  driving  out  the 
pygmy — prognathous  group — whom  they  found  there.  Sir  Harry  Johnston 
classes  the  group  of  languages  spoken  by  these  people  as  the  "  Masai-Turkana- 
Bari  "  group,  which,  he  says,  "  constitutes  a  very  loosely  knit  group  of  languages, 
each  of  which,  perhaps,  resembles  the  other  slightly  more  than  it  approaches 
dialects  outside  this  grouping."  He  adds  that  "  there  is  an  obvious  relationship 
between  the  Masai  and  Nilotic  tongues — Dinka,  Shiluk  (Shwolo),  Dyur,  Shan- 
gala,  Acholi,  Aluro,  Lango,  and  Jaluo." 

*  This  system  of  government  by  native  agents  has  not  been  introduced  into 
the  Acholi  country,  but  it  is  in  force,  we  believe,  among  the  Bakedi  and  also  in 
the  Elgon  district. 


Weighing  our  third  pair  of  tusks  in  camp. 


THE  LANGO  AND  ACHOLI   COUNTRY  221 


from  their  employers  or  from  those  over  whom  they  rule 
— the  inevitable  result  with  any  agents,  white  or  black,  who 
are  underpaid. 

If  the  rate  of  pay  accorded  to  these  agents  were  on  a 
more  liberal  scale,  irregular  additions  to  their  incomes  and 
the  trading  which  cloaks  them  could  be  entirely  prohibited, 
and  the  extra  expense  entailed  would  be  to  a  large  extent 
counterbalanced  by  the  reduction  in  the  numbers  of 
Government  cattle  and  sheep  that  are  now  returned  as 
"  dead  "  or  "  lost,"  as  well  as  by  the  benefit  that  would 
ensue  from  the  removal  of  many  causes  of  friction  at 
present  existing  between  the  governors  and  governed. 
We  were  favourably  impressed  with  the  agents  whom  we 
met,  who  appear  to  be  wonderfully  little  disliked  consider- 
ing their  anomalous  position  ;  but  though  the  men  chosen 
for  these  posts  may  be  well  selected,  the  system  is  a  bad 
one,  and,  if  it  is  inevitable,  it  should  be  rendered  as 
innocuous  as  possible  by  the  adoption  of  an  adequate  scale 
of  pay. 

During  our  stay  at  Palango  we  met  Dora,  one  of  the 
principal  and  most  friendly  of  the  Lango  chiefs — a  man 
who  has  very  considerable  influence  over  his  people,  and 
rules  them  directly  without  the  assistance  of  an  agent. 
When  a  few  more  chiefs  of  his  type  and  standing  follow 
Dora's  example,  and  cease  their  hostility  or  opposition  to 
the  Government,  the  services  of  the  Baganda  agents  will 
doubtless  be  dispensed  with.  Dora  kindly  told  off  a 
sub-chief,  Mwaka  (or  Kelomwaka),  to  accompany  us  on 
the  first  stage  of  our  journey,  and  doubtless  much  of  the 
smoothness  which  marked  our  passage  through  the 
country  was  due  to  this  man's  presence.  He  was  accom- 
panied by  two  buglers  and  an  escort  of  armed  men, 
supplementary  to  the  police  provided  by  Captain  Place. 

Dora  brought  up  two  of  his  wives  as  well  as  several 
other  ladies  to  pay  us  a  visit.  The  wives  were  clothed  in 
cotton  cloths — though  one  of  them  removed  hers  when 
facing  the  camera — but  the  remainder  were  in  the  national 
costume,  consisting  chiefly  of  tattoo  marks — which  are 
more  numerous  and  more  pronounced  than  any  we  have 


222     THROUGH  THE   HEART  OF  AFRICA 


seen  elsewhere — a  small  girdle  round  the  waist,  from 
which  hangs,  in  front,  a  diminutive  apron — sometimes 
made  of  native  wrought-iron  chain-work,  and  sometimes 
simply  of  strands  of  grass  or  hair — and  behind  a  short 
"  tail  "  sticking  out  at  right  angles  to  the  body,  from  which, 
in  the  case  of  married  women,  a  long  tail,  made  of  hair, 
hangs  down  to  the  ground.  Their  ornaments  are  neck- 
laces, anklets,  wristlets,  rings,  and  earrings  of  native  iron, 
or,  more  rarely,  copper  from  the  Congo,  or  imported  brass, 
while  the  neck,  forehead,  and  ears  are  often  further 
adorned  with  shells  and  fish  bones.  The  hair  is  plaited 
and  is  worn  long. 

The  men,  who  are  of  fine  physique,  occasionally  wear 
a  small  skin  loin-cloth,  but  more  often  a  small  skin  apron 
is  suspended  in  front  from  a  girdle  or  corset  of  strands  of 
twisted  grass.  Some  of  the  young  bloods  aflfect  very 
tight  lacing  with  these  grass  corsets,  which  gives  them  a 
ridiculous  appearance,  while  most  of  them  have  a  habit  of 
binding  the  upper  arm,  when  young,  with  an  iron  wire 
bracelet,  which  causes  a  shocking  distortion  of  the  muscles 
of  the  biceps.  In  one  case  that  we  measured,  we  found 
that  what  should  have  been  the  thickest  part  of  the  biceps 
measured  only  inches  over  the  wire,  while  below, 
between  the  "  ornament  "  and  the  elbow,  the  measurement 
was  no  less  than  inches.  Their  hair  is  allowed  to 
grow  long  and  is  welded  in  a  cone — something  after  the 
manner  of  the  Mashukulumbwe,  but  not  to  such  an  exag- 
gerated extent — which  is  often  supplemented  by  a  warthog 
tush,  fastened  in  the  hair  behind  the  cone,  the  whole  head 
being  encircled  by  a  band  of  fish  bones  or  cowrie  shells. 
Iron  earrings  are  frequently  worn,  and  necklaces  of  iron, 
iron  and  copper,  or  beads  from  which  is  suspended  a  small 
antelope's  horn  or  other  charm. 

Perhaps  the  most  striking  feature  in  the  Lango's 
remarkable,  if  limited,  wardrobe  is  the  crescent-shaped 
glass  ornament  worn  in  the  lower  lip.  This  is  inserted 
through  a  hole  at  the  base  of  the  lip,  and  is  made  from 
pieces  of  glass  bottles  carefully  filed  down.  As  there  is 
no  centre  of  civilisation  near,  bottles  have  not  yet  become 


"Costume  consisting  chiefly  of  tatoo  marks,  a  small  girdle  round 
the  waist  from  which  hangs,  in  front,  a  miniature  ai'ron  .  .  of  iron 

chain-work  .   .   OR  STRANDS  OF  HAIR,  AND  BEHIND  .   .   A  LONG  TAIL  HANGS 
DOWN  TO  THE  GROUND." 


THE  LANGO  AND  ACHOLI  COUNTRY  223 


common,  and  we  found  that  no  present  was  more  accept- 
able among  these  dusky  dandies  than  an  old  bottle.  They 
have  rather  striking  features,  and  some  have  quite  aquiline 
noses,  and  lips  of  only  moderate  thickness.  The  colour 
of  the  skin  is  the  chocolate  hue  usual  in  this  part  of 
Africa. 

They  all  carry  sticks,  and  mostly  use  a  rough  spade 
instead  of  the  almost  universal  African  hoe.  All  are  armed 
with  spears  and  bows  and  arrows,  and  many  have  guns, 
which  have  come  in  from  Abyssinia,  though  they  are  not 
so  plentiful  as  among  the  Acholi. 

There  is  a  somewhat  peculiar  difference  between  these 
people  and  the  kindred  Wakavirondo,  in  that  while  the 
latter  show  no  inclination  to  adopt  clothing  of  any  kind 
either  European,  or  the  ordinary  blanket  or  coloured 
print,  the  Lango  seem  quite  pleased  to  wear  anything  they 
can  get  hold  of.  Reference  to  the  photograph  of  Mwaka's 
"  army  "  will  show  that  half  of  them  are  clothed,  while  all 
the  chiefs  that  we  encountered  were  wearing  European 
clothing  of  some  kind  or  other. 

The  usual  Lango  village  is  surrounded  by  a  stockade 
of  poles,  and  contains  from  ten  to  fifty  huts  built  close 
together  side  by  side  with  the  grain  stores.  The  huts  are 
shaped  like  beehives,  with  low  walls  and  high,  steep- 
pitched  roofs  on  which  the  thatch  is  laid  in  step-like 
ridges.  The  doorways  are  more  or  less  circular  and  very 
low,  those  in  bachelors'  huts  being  so  small  that  the 
occupants  can  hardly  squeeze  through  them,^  while  even 
the  benedicts  have  to  crawl  on  their  hands  and  knees 
when  entering  or  leaving  their  abodes.  This  is,  of  course, 
a  great  convenience  to  raiding  parties,  as  they  can  spear 
the  inhabitants  between  the  shoulder-blades  as  they  crawl 
slowly  and  awkwardly  from  their  huts. 

The  Lango  appear  to  regard  raiding  as  one  of  the 

^  Although  we  searched  diligently  for  them  we  failed  to  find  in  any  village  we 
visited,  either  among  the  Lango  or  Acholi,  any  of  the  bachelors'  huts  raised  on 
piles  like  a  grain  store  or  pigeon-cote  in  which  it  is  said  the  bachelors  are  shut 
up  at  night — the  surrounding  ground  being  covered  with  sand  every  evening  so 
that  any  night  excursions  on  the  part  of  a  gay  young  spark  would  be  patent  to 
his  elders. 


224    THROUGH  THE   HEART  OF  AFRICA 


chief  pleasures  of  life,  and  it  is  because  he  interferes  with 
this  pursuit  that  the  white  man's  presence  is  rather 
resented,  as  would  be  the  domination  in  England  of  a 
race  that  made  illegal  cricket,  football,  and  other  national 
sports.  A  happy,  unsophisticated  crowd,  they  are  in 
reality  very  friendly  and  well-disposed,  and  their  outbreaks 
are  really  due  to  their  innate  exuberance  of  spirits  which 
is  liable  to  get  out  of  hand  at  the  beer  season.  This  is 
the  season  at  which  they  generally  raid  each  other,  a 
neighbouring  tribe,  or  even  one  of  the  Government 
agents,  but  as  is  natural  with  such  a  light-hearted  people, 
they  appear  to  bear  no  ill-will  for  reprisals  taken  after  a 
raid. 

Their  staple  food  consists  of  the  small  red  millet, 
supplemented  by  sweet  potatoes.  Bananas,  which  form 
the  main  dietary  of  the  Baganda  and  Banyoro  on  the 
other  side  of  the  Nile,  are  not  grown  except  at  the  forts 
of  the  Baganda  agents,  who  have  also  introduced  the 
cultivation  of  cotton. 

On  December  iith,  our  quota  of  carriers  being  com- 
pleted, we  said  good-bye  to  our  host  and  chief  Dora  and 
set  out  for  the  North.  We  had  fifty-seven  carriers  for 
ourselves  and  three  for  the  police.  Kasonde,  the  sole 
remaining  Rhodesian,  two  local  personal  servants,  a 
cook's  boy,  Musa,  a  local  headman  to  boss  up  the  loads, 
two  Lango  gun-bearers,  Mwaka  and  another  repre- 
sentative of  chief  Dora,  and  an  escort  of  nineteen  armed 
men,  six  of  whom  were  police,  the  rest  being  irregulars, 
including  two  buglers. 

The  orders  issued  to  the  police,  in  our  presence,  were 
as  follows : — 

I.  To  escort  us  and  our  carriers  to  Gondokoro,  and 
to  escort  our  carriers  back  to  Palango. 
II.  Not  to  loot. 

III.  Not  to  allow  the  carriers  to  loot. 

IV.  In  the  event  of  the  local  natives  failing  to  pro- 

vide food,  to  escort  the  carriers,  when  in- 
structed by  us,  to  the  village  gardens,  so  that 


"The  men  .  .  of  fine  physique,  occasionally  wear  a  skin  loin-cloth, 
but  more  often  a  small  skin  apron  is  suspended  from  .  .  a  corset 

OF  .   .  GRASS." 


THE  LANGO  AND  ACHOLI  COUNTRY  225 


they  could  dig  sufficient  sweet  potatoes  for 
their  needs. 

V.  Not  to  fire  at  any  natives  except  by  our  instruc- 
tions. 

The  raison  d'etre  for  this  escort  was  twofold.  Firstly, 
no  carriers  would  have  consented  to  travel  a  day  with 
us  without  them,  as  had  they  attempted  to  return  alone 
few  if  any  would  have  reached  home  again  in  safety. 
Secondly,  although  the  chances  of  an  attack  on  a  caravan 
headed  by  Europeans  was  extremely  remote,  obstacles 
might  have  been  encountered,  and  had  anything  happened 
to  us  punitive  measures  would  have  been  necessary,  so- 
the  provision  of  an  escort  was  really  a  preventive 
measure. 

We  did  not  leave  the  station  till  2.15,  though  our 
loads  had  gone  ahead  at  noon  ;  and  as  we  had  fourteen 
miles  to  cover  we  were  unable  to  halt  at  Dora's  village, 
as  we  should  have  liked  to  have  done,  to  witness  a  big 
dance  that  was  in  progress.^ 

The  path  soon  led  over  a  rough  piece  of  dried  swamp 
on  which  the  footmarks  made  earlier  in  the  season  had 
dried  in  such  a  way  as  to  leave  a  surface  like  that  of 
badly  laid  cobble-stones. 

As  the  track  was  but  nine  or  ten  inches  wide,  very 
erratic,  and  fringed  with  high  grass  which  prevented  the 
rider  from  seeing  what  lay  ahead  of  the  numerous  curves 
and  twists,  we  soon  gave  up  the  attempt  to  cycle. 

On  dismounting  we  discovered  that  one  of  the  two- 
savages  engaged  to  accompany  the  bicycles  had  vanished, 
so  one  of  the  policeman  shouldered  the  machine — ari 
earnest  of  the  manner  in  which,  throughout  the  journey, 
all  the  members  of  our  escort  cheerfully  undertook  any 
odd  job  that  came  their  way.  After  a  short  walk  we 
arrived  at  the  Parosa,  a  swampy  tributary  of  the  Nile 

'  As  so  little  is  known  of  the  country  through  which  we  were  about  to  pass, 
the  description  of  the  next  ten  days  will  be  given  in  rather  greater  detail  and  in 
more  exact  chronological  order  than  that  in  which  the  other  stages  of  our  journey 
have  been  described ;  and,  for  the  same  reason,  the  illustrations  are  more 
numerous. 

P 


226    THROUGH  THE   HEART  OF  AFRICA 


which  has  earned  a  niche  for  itself  in  our  memories 
through  the  shortcomings  of  its  canoes.  That  in  which 
we  were  accommodated  let  in  water  at  the  rate  of  some 
three  gallons  a  minute,  though  some  energetic  baling, 
coupled  with  a  paddler's  dexterity  in  placing  his  heel  over 
one  of  the  principal  apertures,  enabled  us  to  reach  the 
other  side  without  actually  sinking.  Here  we  struck  the 
road,  which  though  bumpy  in  places  was,  on  the  whole, 
rideable  and  had  no  gradients  sufficiently  steep  to  make  it 
necessary  to  dismount. 

A  fine  open  camp  with  a  big,  airy  handa  marks  the 
first  halting-place  near  Kelodaki's  village,  close  to  which 
is  the  fort  of  a  Muganda  "agent."  The  latter  greeted  us 
on  arrival  with  a  present  of  a  sheep,  and  later  produced 
the  food  we  required  for  our  carriers.  In  a  perfect 
plague  of  mosquitoes,  due  to  the  proximity  of  the  Kole 
River,  the  corporal  mounted  the  guard,  and  our  two 
buglers — one  of  whom  was  clothed  in  a  blue  jersey,  white 
trousers,  and  a  fez  cap,  while  the  other  had  nothing  at  all 
except  his  bugle — sounded  "  Officers'  Mess,"  and  we  sat 
down  to  dinner,  but  we  were  soon  driven  to  our  tents  to 
shelter  inside  our  mosquito  nets. 

"Reveille"  went  at  4.25,  but  it  was  seven  o'clock 
before  we  made  a  start,  as  our  carriers  were  new  to  the 
game  and  had  muddled  up  the  loads,  while  three,  more 
faint-hearted  than  the  rest,  had  decided  to  bolt  before 
further  advance  into  the  country  of  their  exuberant 
neighbours  rendered  unescorted  return  a  somewhat  unsafe 
form  of  recreation.  After  half-an-hour's  walk  our  road 
crossed  the  Kole  River,  which  was  of  greater  breadth  and 
volume  than  the  Parosa,  but  luckily  boasted  a  more  trust- 
worthy canoe.  The  carriers  went  on  foot,  and  by  making 
a  detour  were  able  to  avoid  the  deepest  parts.  We  two, 
together  with  Musa  and  Mwaka,  sat  in  the  canoe,  which 
was  pulled  and  pushed  across  by  two  swarthy  Lango. 
For  the  most  part  the  water  was  barely  waist-deep,  but 
once  or  twice  it  reached  their  shoulders,  and  on  one 
occasion  proved  too  deep  for  them,  so  the  "  bow "  man 
swam  across,  and  when  he  reached  a  shallower  spot  the 


"The  doorways  are  more  of  less  circular  and  very  low.'' 


THE  LANGO  AND  ACHOLI  COUNTRY  227 


"  stern "  ferryman  pushed  us  over  to  him,  and  then 
followed  himself.  After  a  quarter  of  an  hour  we  reached 
the  mud  on  the  far  side,  which  was  deep  enough  to  get 
comfortably  over  the  tops  of  our  boots. 

About  eleven  o'clock  we  arrived  at  the  next  camp  at 
Kelobong's,  near  the  Toshi  River,  fourteen  miles  from 
Kelodaki's.  Except  for  one  strip  of  uncleared  thorny 
bush  the  track  had  been  quite  good  for  cycling — the  only 
incident  being  the  explosion  of  a  back  tyre,  and  the  dis- 
covery that  one  of  the  two  spare  covers  supplied  with  the 
bicycle  did  not  fit  the  wheel :  yet  another  chapter  in  the 
long  list  of  catastrophes  that  had  befallen  this  machine. 

In  the  early  afternoon  we  visited  two  of  the  neigh- 
bouring villages  and  took  some  photographs  of  the  huts 
and  their  owners  and  their  cattle.  The  latter  seem  to 
thrive  throughout  this  country,  and  are  the  principal 
source  of  wealth  among  the  Lango.  On  our  return  we 
were  visited  by  Kelobong,  whom  we  had  met  with  Captain 
Tufnell  between  Hoima  and  Masindi.  He  greeted  us  as 
old  friends,  and  expressed  his  pleasure  at  seeing  us  in  his 
country.  After  talking  about  the  wonders  of  civilisation 
at  Hoima,  he  took  his  leave  and  returned  to  his  home. 

The  next  day  we  were  surprised  and  amused  to  find 
that  no  less  than  forty  local  Lango  had  been  impressed  to 
fill  the  four  vacancies  in  our  caravan,  and  imagined  that 
the  necessary  four  would  be  chosen  and  the  rest  dismissed. 
Not  a  bit  of  it  ;  they  were  all  told  to  come  along,  and  so 
far  from  minding,  they  began  cheerily  fighting  for  loads. 
We  did  not  interfere,  for  with  two  men  for  each  of  the 
heavier  loads  it  meant  more  rapid  progress.  Moreover,  it 
was  apparently  the  local  custom,  and  the  Lango  seem  to 
have  no  objection  to  carrying  a  load  gratis  for  one  day, 
though,  as  we  discovered  later,  nothing  will  induce  them 
to  go  for  two,  nor  will  such  local  substitutes  go  beyond 
what  they  consider  is  the  day's  trek,  even  if  the  rest  of  the 
caravan  is  going  on. 

Our  route  lay  in  a  north-easterly  direction  along  the  left 
bank  of  the  Toshi,  and  as  the  road  ended  abruptly  soon 
after  passing  an  agent's  fort  at  Wini,  we  had  a  hard  bit  of 


228     THROUGH  THE  HEART  OF  AFRICA 


tramping  through  a  half-dried  swamp  on  a  tussocky  track 
like  a  sheep  walk.  This  only  lasted  an  hour,  and  then 
the  road  began  again,  so  we  remounted  our  cycles  and 
reached  the  agent's  fort  at  Zakayo's  at  12.40,  having 
covered  sixteen  and  a  half  miles,  ten  of  which  had  been  on 
foot,  and  all  of  which  had  been  intersected  at  frequent 
intervals  by  swamps.  The  country  differed  somewhat 
from  that  which  we  had  been  passing  through  recently, 
being  a  moderately  open,  undulating  land  clothed  with  a 
few  scrubby  trees  and  bushes,  and  short,  fine  grass  not 
more  than  four  feet  high — a  good  example  of  the  un- 
reliability of  rumour.  At  Hoima  we  had  spoken  feelingly 
of  the  elephant  grass  around  Muhemba's  at  the  south-east 
of  the  Albert  Nyanza,  and  were  assured  that  the  grass 
there  was  nothing  compared  with  what  we  should  find  in 
the  parts  we  were  going  to  visit.  In  the  twenty-three 
days  during  which  we  wandered  about  between  Hoima  and 
Palango  we  found  nothing  half  as  bad  as  the  grass  round 
Muhemba's,  and  up  here  it  was,  as  we  have  said,  rarely 
more  than  four  feet  high. 

The  soil  here  is  fairly  fertile,  but  the  country  is  poorly 
watered.  It  carries  large  numbers  of  cattle,  sheep,  and 
goats.  We  saw  no  game,  and  only  a  little  old  elephant 
spoor.  Judging  by  the  skins  the  natives  wear,  the  bush 
buck  is  the  commonest  animal,  or  at  any  rate  that  which 
is  most  easily  killed. 

The  following  day,  one  of  us  was  suffering  from  a  touch 
of  fever,  so  we  decided  to  make  a  short  trek  to  Yusufu's 
(9I  miles). 

Our  corvee  of  the  preceding  day  had  returned  home, 
but  we  had  no  difficulty  in  securing  others  to  take  their 
place.  There  were  not  more  than  half  a  dozen  invalids 
among  our  gang,  but  no  less  than  fifty-six  local  Lango 
were  produced  to  relieve  them,  and  not  one  of  them  would 
be  denied.  So  far  from  showing  any  disinclination  to  oblige 
us  by  carrying  our  gear  for  a  day,  they  seemed  to  regard 
it  as  the  chance  of  their  lives  !  Drawn  up  in  a  line  at  the 
side  of  the  road  they  quietly  awaited  the  word,  and  then 
threw  themselves  as  one  man  upon  the  surplus  baggage. 


THE  LANGO  AND  ACHOLI  COUNTRY  229 


As  there  was  obviously  not  enough  to  go  round,  the 
most  lively  scrimmage  ensued.  Jostling,  grabbing,  scratch- 
ing, punching,  and  even  using  their  sticks  on  each  other's 
skulls  and  ribs,  they  fairly  fought  for  their  loads,  and  had 
it  not  been  for  the  interference  of  a  couple  of  police  with 
a  couple  of  serviceable  viboko  ^  the  process  of  selection 
would  probably  have  been  terminated  by  the  survival 
of  the  fittest.  Hostilities,  however,  died  away  quite  as 
suddenly  as  they  had  begun.  A  few  more  of  the  old 
gang  affected  temporary  indisposition  and  gave  up  their 
places  to  meet  the  sudden  demand,  the  heavier  packages 
were  shared  by  two,  three,  or  even  four  of  our  cheerful 
substitutes,  and  all  the  new-comers  were  eventually  accom- 
modated. There  was  no  sign  of  any  inclination  to  run 
away  or  abandon  their  loads  once  they  had  started,  and 
there  was  no  doubt  that,  as  long  as  too  sustained  an  effort 
were  not  demanded  of  them,  they  thoroughly  enjoyed  the 
novelty  of  a  little  work — though  load-carrying,  with  their 
elaborate  head-dress,  was  rather  an  awkward  occupation. 

At  Yusufu's,  Mwaka  asked  leave  to  go  ahead  of  us  to 
his  village  (which  we  hoped  to  reach  the  next  day),  so  as 
to  be  there  to  receive  us  ;  and  we  took  the  opportunity 
of  sending  a  note  to  the  Assistant  District  Commissioner, 
who  was  engaged  in  building  a  new  station  at  Gulu  to 
ask  him  if  he  could  give  us  some  idea  of  the  distance  to 
Nimule.  Our  friendly  chief  promised  to  send  out  men  to 
see  if  there  were  any  elephants  in  the  neighbourhood,  and, 
should  the  search  prove  successful,  to  send  a  man  to  meet 
us  en  route  with  the  news. 

Kelo  Mwaka  and  Kelobong  were  good  examples  of 
what  their  subjects  may  become  when  they  have  been  in 
longer  and  closer  contact  with  the  white  man  and  his 
government.  Their  cheerful,  playful  but  good-tempered 
and  good-natured  characteristics  carry  with  them  the  con- 
viction that,  properly  handled,  the  Lango  will  before  long 
be  as  loyal  a  tribe  as  any  in  the  Protectorate.  It  is  to  be 
hoped  that  there  will  be  no  attempt  to  civilise  them  too 
rapidly.    That  a  tribe  of  genuine  savages  should  be  able 

*  Hippo-hide  whips. 


230    THROUGH  THE  HEART  OF  AFRICA 


to  assimilate  civilisation  as  the  Baganda — a  nation  with  a 
culture  and  a  history  of  its  own — are  assimilating  it,  is 
manifestly  impossible.  The  result  of  precocious  aspira- 
tions could  only  be  the  acquisition  of  a  thin  and  offensive 
veneer  in  place  of  the  best  qualities  that  they  now  possess, 
and  it  would  be  folly  to  encourage  them. 

To  us,  who  had  lived  for  some  years  amongst  natives 
but  little  further  removed  from  their  former  savagery,  our 
visit  to  these  people,  after  rather  a  surfeit  of  the  educated 
Baganda  and  Banyoro,  was  an  unmixed  pleasure.  It  is 
impossible  not  to  appreciate  the  work  that  is  being  done 
in  assisting  these  latter  to  absorb  what  is  most  suitable  in 
civilisation,  and  the  almost  unique  opportunity  for  the 
development  of  a  cultured  and  highly  organised  African 
community,  but  there  is  something  undeniably  more 
attractive  in  one's  intercourse  with  tribes  that  have  not  yet 
reached  even  the  primary  stages  of  transition  and  are  still 
in  a  condition  of  untouched  and  primitive  simplicity. 

Nothing  could  have  exceeded  the  obliging  courtesy 
that  we  enjoyed  at  the  hands  of  the  Baganda  and  Banyoro 
chiefs,  but  it  lacked  the  childlike  and  open  frankness  of 
our  intercourse  with  the  Lango. 

They  were  as  free  from  the  cadging  or  grovelling  spirit 
as  from  any  awkwardness  or  bashfulness,  and  greeted  us 
as  welcome  visitors  with  a  friendly  equality  that  was  as 
refreshing  as  it  was  surprising. 

The  sick  man  being  rather  worse  than  better  the 
following  day  he  was  carried  to  Mwaka's — fourteen  miles 
— in  a  machila  or  hammock  improvised  from  a  game  net 
provided  by  the  Muganda  agent  Yusufu,  who  was  the 
last  agent  that  we  were  to  see. 

The  track  was  bad  and  rarely  fit  for  cycling.  It  was 
crossed  by  a  dozen  small  swamps,  most  of  them  ankle 
deep,  and  two  up  to  the  knees,  and  neither  of  us  was 
sorry,  after  four  hours  of  it,  to  reach  our  camp. 

On  our  way  we  passed  several  granite  boulders,  on 
which  the  Lango  had  gathered  to  watch  us  pass.  Many 
of  them  were  standing  on  one  leg  after  the  manner  of  the 
Dinka  and  kindred  tribes. 


THE  LANGO  AND  ACHOLI  COUNTRY  231 


Some  four  miles  from  our  destination  stood  the  hill 
known  as  Mount  Moru  (3900  feet),  near  which  the 
remnants  of  the  Soudanese  mutineers  had  made  their  last 
camp.  These  numbered  about  a  hundred,  and  as  they 
caused  trouble  by  raiding  the  neighbouring  villages,  were 
finally  overthrown  by  an  expedition  under  Major  Radcliffe 
about  the  year  1901. 

Mwaka  met  us  with  an  apology  of  engaging  naivete. 

"  I  am  sorry,"  he  said,  "  that  I  have  not  got  a  better 
camp  for  you,  but  I  only  got  here  early  this  morning,  and 
this  is  all  I  have  been  able  to  do  in  the  time." 

"  This "  consisted  of  a  clean  and  freshly  built  banda, 
with  two  doors  and  three  windows,  and  measuring  twenty- 
four  feet  by  twelve,  a  hut  for  a  kitchen,  and  others  for  our 
staff,  all  standing  in  a  level  open  space  which  he  had 
chosen  for  us  near  his  village,  and  from  which  his  natives- 
were  still  zealously  clearing  the  grass  and  undergrowth  that 
remained  !  All  this  was  for  our  use  for  one  afternoon 
and  night,  done  gratuitously  and  unasked. 

We  had  seldom  seen  natives  putting  their  hearts  into- 
their  work  as  these  Lango  were  doing.  They  hardly 
paused  to  look  at  us  when  we  arrived,  but  concentrated 
all  their  energy  on  the  wielding  of  their  quaint  spades, 
chaffing  and  bantering  one  another  the  while  in  the  highest 
good  humour. 

After  lunch  we  went  down  to  the  village  and  took  a 
few  photographs  of  the  inhabitants.  A  baby  that  ran  to 
its  mother  and  howled  vigorously  when  it  caught  sight  of 
us  was  the  only  member  of  the  community  that  seemed 
even  interested  in  our  presence.  We  might  have  been 
Lango  ourselves  for  all  the  notice  that  was  taken 
of  us. 

At  three  o'clock  Mwaka  brought  us  a  present  consisting 
of  127  bundles  of  food,  two  sheep,  some  milk,  honey 
(which  was  tasted  by  the  bearer  before  being  handed  to 
us),  twenty  eggs,  and  some  beer.  We  had  a  good  hour's 
entertainment  photographing  some  of  the  sportsmen  who 
brought  up  this  profuse  offering.  They  were  "  clothed  " 
in  typical  Lango  fashion,  and  were  quite  delighted  at  being 


232    THROUGH  THE   HEART  OF  AFRICA 


photographed,  as  well  as  at  the  interest  taken  in  their 
ornaments,  of  which  some  were  very  proud. 

We  had  heard  with  some  interest  that  the  "  body- 
guards "  or  corps  of  irregulars  maintained  by  the  Lango 
and  Acholi  chiefs  were  accustomed  to  drill  in  the  manner 
of  the  regular  forces  of  the  Protectorate,  and,  gathering 
that  Mwaka  would  be  only  too  willing  to  hold  a  parade 
for  our  benefit,  we  expressed  a  desire  that  he  should  do 
so.  He  assented  with  alacrity,  and  in  less  than  a  quarter 
of  an  hour  the  martial  strains  of  bugles  and  side-drums 
announced  his  approach,  and  he  appeared  at  the  head  of 
his  "  army."  They  were  some  thirty  strong,  comprising 
two  drummers,  three  buglers,  and  twenty-five  rank  and 
file,  who  had  discarded  their  firearms  and  provided  them- 
selves with  stout  sticks  in  their  place. 

The  front  ranks  were  made  up  of  the  buglers,  drummers, 
and  some  others,  all  more  or  less  clothed,  with  the  excep- 
tion of  one  of  the  buglers  ;  the  other  two  ranks  were  in 
the  orthodox  national  costume — consisting,  besides  a  few 
ornaments,  of  an  apron  averaging  two  inches  by  ten. 

They  marched  on  to  the  scene  in  perfect  time,  the 
buglers  blowing  a  really  creditable  march,  reached  the  end 
of  the  short  stretch  of  road  that  formed  one  side  of  our 
camping-ground,  halted,  and  "  marked  time."  This  was 
done  standing  firmly  on  the  right  leg  with  the  body  thrown 
gracefully  back,  brandishing  the  left  foot  in  the  air  and 
bringing  it  down  with  a  well-timed  thud. 

It  was  really  a  moving  spectacle.  At  first  it  was  all 
we  could  do  to  get  into  our  shelter  before  bursting  into 
laughter.  When  we  had  pulled  ourselves  together  and 
emerged  we  were  really  not  sure  whether  we  wanted  to 
laugh  or  cry.  Our  police  escort  did  not  move  a  muscle, 
and  their  example  helped  considerably  our  self-control. 

After  marking  time  for  a  space  in  the  same  position 
they  turned  about.  The  scantily  clad  rear  ranks,  who 
were  now  the  front  ranks,  were  as  solemn  as  judges,  and 
evidently  deadly  keen  on  doing  the  thing  seriously.  A 
minute  or  two  later  they  marched  back  to  the  corner  of 
the  "parade  ground,"  marked  time,  "abouted,"  marked 


THE  LANGO  AND  ACHOLI  COUNTRY  233 


time  again,  and  so  on  da  capo,  three  or  four  times,  some- 
times in  ranks  and  sometimes  in  fours.  The  buglers 
changed  their  tune  more  than  once,  and  Mwaka  marched 
at  their  side  carrying  his  stick  Hke  a  sword,  issuing  the 
words  of  command  and  watching  their  every  movement 
hke  a  young  captain  who  has  just  got  his  company. 

It  was  an  amazing  thing  to  find  this  keenness  on 
civihsed  methods  of  soldiering  amongst  a  primitive  and 
untutored  African  tribe  like  the  Lango  and  Acholi.  [For 
we  were  to  see  an  even  more  astonishing  manifestation  of 
it  among  the  Acholi  a  few  days  later.] 

They  are  instructed  apparently  by  time-expired 
members  of  the  police  or  military  forces,  who  spend  their 
leisure  on  their  return  to  their  villages  in  forming  a  nucleus 
of  an  army  out  of  their  fellow-enthusiasts.  It  would  be 
interesting  to  know  if  this  voluntary  adoption  of  European 
drill  and  European  music  has  been  noticed  amongst  any 
other  uncivilised  African  people. 

We  congratulated  ourselves  once  more  on  having 
taken  the  overland  route  instead  of  the  river  journey  by 
Butiaba,  but  felt  sorrier  than  ever  that  we  had  no  time  to 
wander  farther  afield  and  learn  more  of  these  entertaining 
folk.  Their  language  was  a  collection  of  the  most  uncouth 
and  strangely  inarticulate  sounds,  and  sometimes  was  ex- 
traordinarily like  the  chatter  that  English  children  may  be 
heard  inventing  when  pretending  to  be  foreigners. 

It  was  nearly  always  spoken  in  a  high-pitched  and 
forcible  tone,  which,  unless  one  was  watching  the  speakers, 
suggested  that  they  were  on  the  verge  of  coming  to 
blows.  Mwaka  spoke  the  local  Ki-Swahili  fairly  well,  as 
did  Dora  at  Palango,  but  it  was  probably  known  to  but 
few  or  any  of  their  staff,  and  certainly  to  none  of  the 
populace. 

Mwaka  expressed  himself  as  quite  willing  to  accom- 
pany us  as  far  as  Nimule,  though  his  instructions  had 
only  extended  to  the  Palango  district  boundary,  and 
further  left  us  three  delightful  young  sons  of  his.  They, 
he  said,  would  "come  on"  with  us — more  or  less  per- 
manently, apparently.    We  wondered  whether  they  meant 


234    THROUGH  THE  HEART  OF  AFRICA 


England,  Cairo,  or  only  Gondokoro,  but  forbore  to  ask. 
One  was  attired  in  an  abbreviated  waistcoat  and  practi- 
cally nothing  else.  The  others  were  similarly  clothed,  but 
without  the  waistcoat. 

In  the  evening  we  heard  from  Mr.  Sullivan  at  Gulu, 
who  told  us  that  it  was  two  days  to  his  camp — Mwaka's 
runner  had  taken  five  hours — and  added  that  it  was  seven 
good  days  on  from  Gulu  to  Nimule  ;  but  as  he  added 
that  it  was  seventy-five  miles,  we  reckoned  we  could  do  it 
in  four,  which  we  did. 

The  journey  to  Gulu  the  next  day,  which  turned  out 
to  be  a  matter  of  eighteen  miles,  we  accomplished  in  five 
hours.  There  was  no  road,  and  the  track  was  for  the  most 
part  beyond  what  even  we  considered  possible  for  cycling, 
and  we  only  managed  to  use  our  machines  for  about 
five  miles,  in  stretches  of  half  a  mile  at  a  time.  During 
the  last  of  these,  one  of  us  collided  with  a  tree  with  such 
force  that  the  regulator  of  the  two-speed  gear  was  driven 
some  way  into  his  knee,  causing  a  nasty  little  wound  that 
became  rather  troublesome  later  on. 

Mr.  Sullivan  made  us  very  welcome,  gave  us  lunch, 
and  then  showed  us  the  beginning  of  the  new  "  boma " 
which  he  was  building.  It  is  well  situated  on  a  hill  com- 
manding a  fine  view  of  the  surrounding  country,  which, 
though  timbered  farther  away,  is,  in  the  immediate  neigh- 
bourhood, bare  except  for  a  few  borassus  palms. 

We  got  off  at  a  quarter  to  six  the  next  morning  after 
an  early  breakfast,  and  started  for  Lakor's — 17  miles  dis- 
tant. Our  host  had  provided  us  with  thirteen  carriers,  but 
they  bolted  after  travelling  an  hour  and  a  half,  as  they 
considered  that  was  a  day's  march.  Luckily  it  did  not 
cause  us  much  inconvenience,  as  we  soon  obtained  a  fresh 
gang  at  a  wayside  village.  We  were  in  the  Acholi  country 
by  this  time,  and  noted  that  they  cultivate  a  good  deal  of 
millet,  sorghum,  ground  nuts,  and  sim-sim.  The  country 
was  fairly  open,  and  fine  clear  streams  replaced  the  dis- 
agreeable swamps  that  had  been  a  prominent  feature  of 
the  Lango  country.  As  no  game  was  visible,  our  shoot- 
ing was  confined  to  an  occasional  brace  of  guinea-fowl. 


THE  LANGO  AND  ACHOLI  COUNTRY  235 


generally  secured  in  the  evening  after  a  couple  of  hours' 
hard  tramping  in  the  grass. 

At  Lakor's  we  struck  a  road  of  sorts.  It  was  a  narrow, 
bumpy  track,  but  it  was  a  good  deal  better  than  nothing, 
and  as  it  was  twenty-one  miles  to  Adulla's,  where  we  had 
decided  to  camp,  we  were  glad  enough  of  it.  Five  miles 
after  starting  we  passed  a  spot  known  as  "  Baker's  camp," 
being  the  place  which  Sir  Samuel  Baker  had  made  his 
temporary  residence  many  years  before.  It  was  a  good 
spot  for  a  rest,  among  small  hills  with  some  fine  trees 
and  a  beautiful  stream  of  clear  water  flowing  lazily  over 
some  rocks  close  by. 

We  reached  Adulla's  at  a  little  before  midday,  but  had 
to  wait  another  hour  and  a  half  for  our  chairs  and  food, 
while  the  rest  of  the  loads  did  not  arrive  till  about  four. 
There  were  some  lounges  in  the  village  of  most  original 
design,  constructed  of  logs  laid  horizontally  on  parallel 
sloping  poles.  Four  of  them  were  built  facing  one  another 
so  that  the  bases  formed  a  small  square,  in  the  centre  of 
which  a  small  fire  was  kept  burning.  On  them  were 
sprawling  and  chatting  some  young  Acholi  bloods — even 
more  tightly  laced  than  their  Lango  neighbours. 

Before  arriving  at  the  village  we  had  an  opportunity 
of  watching  a  party  of  Acholi  hunters  at  work.  Some 
days  before  they  had  burnt  a  strip  of  grass  in  the 
bush,  leaving  a  large  unburnt  area  up  wind,  and  the  day 
on  which  we  passed  they  had  placed  game  nets  about  six 
feet  in  height  on  light  poles,  studded  with  rough  pegs,  all 
along  the  burnt  strip  of  ground.  The  grass  was  then 
fired  about  three-quarters  of  a  mile  away,  and  the  hunters 
arriving  with  bows  and  arrows,  waited  for  any  game  that 
might  be  driven  into  the  nets  by  the  flames.  We  arrived 
there  at  the  right  moment,  but  unfortunately  the  drive 
was  fruitless  and  no  game  forthcoming.  We  saw  three 
Jackson's  hartebeeste  a  little  farther  on,  the  first  game — 
other  than  elephant — seen  since  Kishilisi. 

Mwaka  reported  in  the  evening  that  a  chief  named 
Wo,  who  lived  close  by,  had  refused  to  send  us  either 
food  for  our  men  or  any  extra  carriers  for  the  next  day. 


236    THROUGH  THE   HEART  OF  AFRICA 


As  he  declared  that  he  had  spoken  very  nicely  to  Wo, 
and  that  the  latter,  having  plenty  of  food  and  a  big  popu- 
lation, had  no  excuse  for  his  boorishness,  we  sent  along 
for  Wo,  Wo's  food,  and  some  of  Wo's  people.  They  all 
turned  up — at  about  nine  o'clock  at  night.  Wo  was  most 
apologetic.  His  mistake  had  been  due,  he  said,  to  the 
fact  that  we  were  travelling  just  outside  his  own  particular 
sphere,  and  he  did  not  think  that  the  message  could  really 
be  for  him. 

The  next  morning,  after  walking  two  miles,  we  crossed 
the  Nyame,  a  fair-sized  river  which  rises  near  Gulu  and 
flows  into  the  Nile  at  Nimule.  The  day  was  then  en- 
livened by  the  third  collapse  of  the  bicycle  that  had  been 
patched  at  Hoima.  Its  latest  manifestation  was  an  obsti- 
nate tendency  to  free-wheel  in  both  directions,  which  made 
progress  a  trifle  spasmodic.  This  meant  walking  to  Oliya's, 
but  as  it  was  only  fourteen  miles,  it  was  not  immediately 
disastrous,  and  we  arrived  at  half-past  ten. 

The  camp  was  one  of  the  most  ideal  spots  we  had  seen. 
A  huge  tree  with  dense  foliage  stood  at  one  end  of  a 
cleanly  swept  square,  enclosed  with  a  fence  of  old  crotons. 
Some  years  before  it  had  been  the  site  of  the  village.  The 
new  village  was  a  few  hundred  yards  away,  and  contained 
six  or  seven  hundred  roofs,  of  which  perhaps  two  hundred 
and  fifty  were  huts,  the  remainder  being  grain  stores. 
Each  group  of  a  dozen  huts  or  so  was  separate,  yet  the 
village  is  continuous,  though  small  hedges  divided  off  the 
groups  from  one  another  and  there  were  many  open  spaces 
in  between  them. 

Oliya  himself,  one  of  the  most  important  Acholi  chiefs, 
was  absent  at  Nimule,  but  we  were  courteously  received 
by  his  younger  brother,  who  appeared  shortly  after  our 
arrival  bringing  a  dozen  eggs  and  a  bugler.  The  latter 
greeted  us  with  an  almost  faultlessly  blown  "general  salute." 
When  visiting  the  village  later  we  were  shown  round  with 
unassuming  civility  by  some  headman,  who  met  us  at  the 
entrance  of  the  village,  and,  immediately  appointing  him- 
self our  cicerone,  said,  "  This  is  the  way  to  the  chief's  house, 
will  you  please  come  this  way."    We  followed,  taking  a 


There  were  some  lounges  ....  ok  most  original  design. 


THE  LANGO  AND  ACHOLI  COUNTRY  237 


photograph  here  and  there,  and  while  doing  so  a  graceful 
damsel  leading  a  picanin  by  the  hand  emerged  from 
a  hut. 

"  This  is  Oliya's  daughter,"  said  our  guide  ;  and  as  the 
young  lady  seemed  bashful,  he  added  :  "  Come  and  have 
your  picture  taken  ;  don't  be  shy." 

She  braced  herself  up  and,  holding  her  younger  sister 
by  the  hand,  approached  and  stood  for  her  portrait. 
Her  clothing  consisted  of  a  necklace  of  fish  bones,  two 
rows  of  beads  round  her  waist,  and  a  heavy  ornament 
consisting  of  some  forty  strands  of  copper-wire  round 
each  ankle. 

Our  guide  then  produced  the  chief's  son,  whose  attire 
consisted  of  a  goat-skin  and  a  walking-stick.  His  portrait 
also  was  added  to  our  collections.  We  then  visited  the 
dififerent  parts  of  the  village,  and  were  shown  everything 
there  was  to  see,  after  which  our  guide  escorted  us  back 
to  our  camp. 

Most  of  the  rest  of  the  afternoon  was  devoted  to  the 
broken-down  bicycle.  It  was  taken  to  pieces  three  times 
in  all,  being  put  together  again  on  each  occasion  in  an 
atmosphere  of  equally  hopeless  despair.  How  it  had  run 
the  four  hundred  miles  since  leaving  Hoima  was  a  small 
mechanical  miracle.  The  cones — wonder  of  wonders — 
were  intact,  but  the  split  cogwheel-casing  had  gone  on 
splitting,  and  apparently  the  only  reason  why  it  had  not 
started  its  impartial  free-wheeling  a  month  before  was  that 
the  fragments  of  broken  metal  had  got  so  generously  dis- 
tributed in  the  mechanism  that  everything  was  bound  to 
"  engage." 

But  a  redistribution  had  now  taken  place  and  natural 
propensities  had  begun  to  reassert  themselves.  The  task 
of  restoring  the  disintegrated  atoms  to  their  original 
pattern  being  dismissed  as  too  sublime,  it  remained  to  be 
seen  whether  by  any  means  at  our  command  we  could 
persuade  the  "  damthing "  to  resume  its  functions  as  a 
bicycle  for  another  hundred  and  thirty  miles.  After  four- 
teen different  kinds  of  diagnosis  and  remedy  had  suggested 
themselves  and  had  in  turn  been  discarded,  it  seemed 


238    THROUGH  THE  HEART  OF  AFRICA 

possible  that  a  cunningly  placed  rivet  or  two  might  succeed 
in  temporarily  arresting  the  next  stage  of  decay.  But  the 
drilling  of  case-hardened  steel  is  a  poor  amusement,  even 
in  the  quiet  seclusion  of  camp  life  in  tropical  Africa.  First 
one  drill  and  then  another  blunted  and  broke  without  making 
the  slightest  impression  where  it  was  needed. 

When  on  the  point  of  giving  up  the  attempt  in  philo- 
sophical despair,  our  prospecting  operations  suddenly  suc- 
ceeded ;  we  thought  a  soft  spot  must  exist  somewhere, 
and — we  found  it !  Feverishly  amputating  the  tails  of 
three  files — the  only  hard  metal  we  had  (and  soft  was  use- 
less under  the  circumstances) — we  tapped  the  improvised 
rivets  cautiously  into  their  places  and  got  the  machine 
together  again  before  it  could  strike  out  a  new  line  of  re- 
sistance. "  Now,"  we  said,  "  if  it  does  not  miss-fire  right 
away,  it  may  conceivably  hold  together  till  Gondokoro." 
It  did  miss-fire  right  away,  and  for  a  few  minutes  there 
was  an  eloquent  silence.  Then  :  "  Let's  give  it  one  more 
chance.  If  it  fails,  into  the  bush  with  it  and  we'll  finish 
up  with  one  machine  as  we  began."  We  gave  it  another 
chance,  and,  for  some  unaccountable  reason,  something 
gripped  and  only  the  right  wheels  revolved.  And  to 
anticipate  and  cut  the  story  short,  though  during  the  last 
two  days  into  Gondokoro  it  was  going  just  as  if  both 
brakes  were  on,  it  actually  held  together  till  the  end. 

It  was  just  before  sundown  that  we  had  quite  the 
biggest  surprise  of  our  whole  journey.  We  had  heard 
of  Oliya's  "  army  "  and  band  as  being  superior  to  those 
of  any  of  his  neighbours,  and,  after  seeing  Mwaka's  con- 
tingent, we  learnt  with  regret  that,  with  the  exception  of 
a  bugler,  he  had  evidently  taken  all  the  members  of  the 
force  with  him  to  Nimule. 

But  we  were  not  altogether  disappointed  :  his  "cadet 
corps "  gave  us  a  show  beyond  our  wildest  hopes.  We 
had  had  our  first  glimpse  of  them  a  few  minutes  after 
arriving  in  camp,  when  half  a  dozen  naked  infants  who 
had  been  standing  staring  at  us,  suddenly — on  observing 
that  a  camera  was  being  turned  on  to  them — at  the  word 
of  command  of  a  youngster  an  inch  taller  than  the  rest, 


'  VOUNG 


achoi.i  liloods  .  .  .  even  moke  tuihtly  laced  than  their 
Lango  neighkours." 


THE  LANGO  AND  ACHOLI  COUNTRY  239 


formed  up  and  proceeded  to  go  through  nearly  all  the 
details  of  squad  drill. 

But  this  was  merely  a  preliminary  canter.  Just  be- 
fore sundown,  when  the  afternoon's  occupation  had  driven 
most  other  things  out  of  our  heads,  we  were  startled  by 
the  strains  of  martial  music  coming  nearer  and  nearer  from 
the  direction  of  the  village.  Evidently  the  chief  had  re- 
turned, and  we  were  not  after  all  going  to  miss  our  parade. 
Our  feelings  may  be  imagined  when  the  "army"  which 
marched  two  deep  on  to  the  camp  square  turned  out  to 
be  not  Oliya's  picked  men-at-arms,  but  a  company  of 
some  forty  youngsters,  from  eight  to  fourteen  years  of  age, 
all  but  two  as  naked  as  on  the  day  they  were  born,  and 
commanded  by  the  same  picanin  that  had  been  drilling 
the  "  squad "  at  midday.  Armed  with  sticks  for  rifles, 
and  headed  by  a  band  consisting  of  two  battered  old  side- 
drums,  an  equally  battered  old  cavalry  bugle,  and  a  still 
more  decayed  pair  of  cymbals,  they  swaggered  along  in 
perfect  time,  passed  us  with  an  "  Eyes  left,"  and  came  to 
a  halt  a  little  beyond  where  we  were  sitting.  After  "  dress- 
ing "  his  company  the  captain  gave  the  order  "  Form 
fours,"  and  then  proceeded  to  put  them  through  most  of 
the  company  drill.  Their  movements  and  their  music 
were  astonishingly  correct,  and  their  discipline  and  serious- 
ness as  striking  as  in  the  adult  force  that  we  had  seen 
a  few  days  before. 

The  words  of  command  were  given  with  a  clear  enunci- 
ation that  could  scarcely  have  been  improved  upon.  Evi- 
dently the  English  language  did  not  present  the  same 
difficulties  to  those  young  savages  that  it  does  to  the 
southern  Bantu,  some  of  whose  happiest  efforts  are 
"  Bunner  murrer,"  "  Reffut  incleon,"  and  "  Cutty  note, 
cutty  chain,"  for  "  By  numbers,"  "  Left  incline,"  and 
"Guard  turn  out,  Guard  'tion." 

After  the  performance  had  reached  its  zenith  in  the 
"  bayonet  exercises "  the  company  re-formed  two  deep 
once  more  and  retired  whence  they  came. 

With  such  enthusiasm  for  military  discipline  and  mili- 
tary training  shown  at  all  ages  from  infancy  upwards  one 


240    THROUGH  THE   HEART  OF  AFRICA 


cannot  help  feeling  that  here,  at  any  rate,  is  exceptional 
material  for  the  formation  of  a  valuable  native  force. 

Having  some  twenty-five  miles  to  do  into  Nimule  we 
made  an  early  start,  though  not  so  early  as  we  had 
intended,  as  after  waking  us  first  at  2.30  the  guard,  who 
had  been  instructed  to  rouse  the  camp  at  3.30,  left  us 
severely  alone  till  nearly  half-past  four.  We  were  off 
in  less  than  an  hour,  walking  for  the  first  mile  or  so 
until  it  was  light  enough  to  ride. 

The  road  was  a  good  one  up  to  the  last  two  or  three 
miles  and  the  trek  comparatively  uneventful.  The  Nyame 
River  was  less  than  knee-deep,  and  the  broken  bicycle, 
though  running  stiff,  held  together  for  the  first  twenty- 
two  miles.  Then  a  miss-fire  occurred  in  the  old  spot, 
followed  almost  immediately  by  a  bad  puncture,  and  it 
had  to  be  wheeled  the  rest  of  the  way. 

At  a  little  before  eleven  o'clock  we  reached  Nimule 
station,  and  enjoyed  a  hearty  welcome  from  Mr.  B.  L. 
Baines,  the  District  Commissioner,  and  Mr.  Hart,  the 
District  Superintendent  of  Police.  Our  loads  were  all  in 
by  four. 

Nimule  is  an  unlovely  spot.  It  is  built  on  and  among 
hot,  dry,  and  stony  barren  ridges  and  hillocks,  from  which 
can  be  seen  one  of  the  "  S  "-like  curves  of  the  Nile,  just 
below  its  junction  with  the  Nyame.  Across  the  river 
to  the  west  the  eye  rests  with  some  relief  upon  the  face 
of  the  escarpment  leading  up  to  the  plateau  of  the  Lado 
province  of  the  Soudan,  but  to  the  east  is  baking  and 
desolate  unloveliness. 

The  houses  are  substantially  but  roughly  built  of  stone, 
and  rather  conspicuously  free  from  the  comforts  that 
might  well  be  added  to  make  life  worth  living  in  such 
unattractive  surroundings. 

The  staff  consists  of  a  District  Commissioner,  an 
Assistant  District  Commissioner,  a  District  Superintendent 
of  Police,  and  a  Doctor,  besides  an  Indian  telegraphist 
and  Indian  clerks. 

The  day's  trek  had  aggravated  the  inflammation  of 
the  knee  that  had  been  cut  near  Gulu,  and  the  after- 


Oliya's  son,  clad  in  a  goat  skin  and  a  walking  stick." 


THE  LANGO  AND  ACHOLI  COUNTRY  241 


noon  was  spent  in  poulticing  and  resting,  and  reading  ai 
belated  mail. 

Our  letters  included  one  from  an  old  friend,  Captain" 
C.  H.  Stigand,  formerly  of  the  King's  African  Rifles,  now 
in  charge  of  the  Lado  province  and  stationed  at  Rejaf^. 
expressing  a  hope  that  we  could  visit  him  at  his  station. 

At  tea-time  we  made  the  acquaintance  of  Oliya,  the 
Acholi  chief  whose  village  we  had  just  left,  and  another  and 
more  important  chief  of  the  same  tribe  named  Agwok. 

The  latter  was  a  most  interesting  old  character.  He 
stood  well  over  six  feet,  and  was  attired  in  a  spotless  if  not 
exactly  well-fitting  suit  of  white  duck,  with  yellow  boots 
and  bright  plaid  socks — one  of  his  many  costumes,  which^ 
we  were  told,  comprised  several  varieties  of  fancy  uniforms 
as  well  as  of  native  finery. 

He  and  his  territory,  which  lay  to  the  east,  were  as 
yet  quite  unadministered,  but  he  was  willing  and  even 
anxious  to  be  included  in  the  Protectorate,  and  meanwhile, 
in  the  intervals  between  his  own  little  raiding  operations, 
nothing  pleased  him  better  than  to  co-operate  with  the 
Government,  to  which  he  was  a  staunch  and  loyal  ally. 
He  had  recently  carried  out  a  small  punitive  expedition 
in  his  sphere,  chiefly  on  his  own  behalf,  and  having  con- 
fiscated some  hundreds  of  cattle  from  his  refractory 
subjects,  had  somewhat  embarrassed  the  Government  by 
offering  it  eighty  head  as  its  share. 

Oliya  was  more  like  the  true  Choli.  Scantily,  but  not 
nationally,  clad,  he  looked  what  he  apparently  was — a 
cheerful,  unspoilt,  more  or  less  untamed,  but  intelligent 
and  well-disposed  nigger,  with  a  fine  figure  and  a  sprightly 
gait.  He  complained  of  the  lack  of  fighting  in  these  days, 
and  looked  as  if  he  might  thoroughly  enjoy  any  that 
might  be  going. 

The  natives  of  the  Nimule  district  were  largely 
Soudanese,  a  plucky  and  a  warlike  race,  who  had  more 
than  once  routed  and  scattered  the  fighting  Dervish 
"  armies  "  sent  against  them  from  the  north. 

They  have  not,  however,  given  much  of  an  account  of 
themselves  in  their  occasional  passages  with  the  Govern- 

Q 


242    THROUGH  THE  HEART  OF  AFRICA 


ment.  In  spite  of  their  greatly  superior  numbers  and 
the  fact  that  they  are  fairly  well  armed  with  a  variety  of 
comparatively  modern  weapons  imported  from  Abyssinia, 
they  are  apparently  quite  unable  to  withstand  the  disci- 
pline and  steady  rifle-tire  of  a  few  trained  men. 

It  was  fortunate  that  we  had  obtained  carriers  at 
Palango  to  take  us  through  to  Gondokoro,  The  District 
Commissioner,  under  the  impression  that  our  request 
through  Mr.  Grant  at  Hoima  was  holding  good,  had 
obtained  what  men  he  could  for  our  last  stage,  but  they 
were  no  longer  available.  A  first  supply  he  had  been 
unable  to  persuade  to  wait  more  than  two  days  for  us, 
and  a  second  he  had  been  obliged  to  commandeer  for 
urgent  Government  business.  Temporary  substitutes  for 
about  a  dozen  weak  members  of  our  gang  could  be  pro- 
vided without  much  difficulty. 

Once  more  we  could  not  suppress  a  smile  at  the 
common  estimate  of  a  day's  journey  in  Uganda.  Our 
journey  from  Palango — i6i  miles  in  ten  days — was  voted 
extraordinary.  It  was  a  little  over  icq  miles  from  Nimule 
to  Gondokoro,  and  astonishment  was  again  expressed  at 
our  intention  to  get  there  in  six  days.  The  orthodox  allow- 
ance was  ten  ;  and  we  had  a  short  time  before  met  a  man 
who,  in  perfect  health,  had  travelled  74J  miles  in  ten  days  ! 
And  it  was  the  custom,  we  learnt,  to  start  on  these  journeys 
at  the  strenuous  hour  of  three  or  four  in  the  morning. 

With  the  majority  of  office  work  performed  by  Indian 
clerks,  the  tax  collection  in  parts  where  taxes  are  en- 
forced and  minor  administrative  duties  by  the  native 
chiefs,  it  must,  one  would  suppose,  be  something  of  a 
problem  how  to  spend  the  rest  of  one's  day,  if  one  starts 
on  a  seven  to  ten  mile  march  at  3  a.m. 

After  the  disposal  of  our  third  pair  of  tusks  to  the 
local  branch  of  Alidina  Visram  at  the  reduced  price  of 
Rs.5.25  per  lb. — the  manager  declaring  that  the  price  of 
ivory  had  gone  down  during  the  last  month — and  the 
purchase  of  one  or  two  necessities  such  as  flour  and 
sugar,  we  left  Nimule  on  the  21st  of  December  for  the 
last  section  of  the  journey  to  Gondokoro. 


A  HEADMAN  OF  THE  LaNGO  ChIEF  AND  ONE  OF  MwaKA's  SONS  WHO 
CAME  THROUGH  TO  GONDOKORO  WITH  US. 


XVI 


NIMULE  TO  GONDOKORO 

Uninviting  country — The  Assua  River — Arrangements  for  food  supply 
and  extra  carriers— Christmas  Day — Ledju,  the  rain-maker — Rejaf — 
Arrival  at  Gondokoro — Sale  of  our  camp  kit — Arrival  of  the  Cordon 
Pasha — -Notes  on  Uganda  and  its  administration. 

We  left  Nimule  on  the  21st  of  December.  Messrs.  Baines 
and  Hart,  who  were  going  out  on  duty,  and  whose  route 
was  the  same  as  our  own  for  the  first  day,  left  early,  but 
we,  detained  by  sundry  small  matters,  did  not  get  off  till 
nearly  ten. 

For  the  first  two  or  three  miles  the  road  wound  in  and 
out  amongst  the  stony  hills  at  the  back  of  the  station  and 
led  through  the  barest,  thirstiest,  most  scorched  and  re- 
pulsive bit  of  country  we  had  seen.  After  a  while  the 
Congo  hills  showed  up  again  to  our  left,  but  to  the  right 
the  landscape  melted  away  through  a  smoky  haze  to  bare, 
hot,  and  vacant  desolation.  The  scanty  patches  of  vege- 
tation had  mostly  been  burnt  by  a  bush  fire,  which  was 
still  blazing  at  both  sides  of  our  path. 

Later  the  road  became  quite  good  for  bicycling,  but 
the  natives  who  were  carrying  the  machines  had  lagged 
so  far  behind  that  we  decided  to  walk  the  rest  of  the 
eleven  miles  to  camp.  Fortunately  there  was  a  steady 
breeze  which  made  the  heat  just  bearable. 

At  one  o'clock  we  reached  the  Assua,  a  broad  and  pic- 
turesque tributary  of  the  Nile  which  rises  near  the  borders 
of  the  Rudolph  province,  and  refreshed  ourselves  by 
wading  across,  though  we  should  have  been  pleased  had 
it  been  waist  instead  of  but  knee  deep.  Baines  and  Hart 
were  camped  a  few  hundred  yards  down  stream,  and  we 
established  ourselves  at  a  rather  decayed  camp  on  the 
road  near  the  ford.    The  posts  of  the  banda  bore  a  notice 

243 


244    THROUGH  THE   HEART  OF  AFRICA 


to  the  effect  that  this  and  the  remaining  camps  on  the 
road  were  free  from  the  spirillum  tick,  which  struck  us 
as  being  a  trifle  sanguine,  though  as  a  matter  of  fact  we 
found  no  traces  of  it. 

The  following  morning  we  rose  at  4.30,  just  in  time 
to  see  the  tail-end  of  the  Nimule  caravan  disappearing  into 
the  shadows  ;  Agwok  and  Mwaka,  who  brought  up  the 
rear,  saluted  cheerfully  as  they  passed.  We  had  bidden 
farewell  to  the  latter  the  day  before,  with  thanks  for  his 
assistance,  under  the  impression  that  he  was  going  back 
home,  but  apparently  he  intended  to  see  a  little  more  life 
first. 

We  left  at  six  and  reached  the  Vuni  stream,  where  we 
camped,  at  ten.  It  was  a  rough,  stony  trek  of  sixteen 
miles.  The  river  bed  was  dry  where  the  road  crossed  it, 
but  there  was  water — of  a  kind — quite  close.  Some 
neighbouring  headmen  were  found  and  persuaded  with- 
out any  difficulty  to  produce  food  for  our  carriers  and 
extra  men  for  some  of  our  loads  for  the  next  stage,  the 
Nimule  contingent  having  returned  home.  The  feeding 
and  transport  system  had  changed.  The  natives  along 
the  route  were  supposed  to  bring  what  food  might  be 
required  by  travellers,  but  it  was  paid  for  at  a  fixed  rate. 
Carriers  were  similarly  paid  (at  twelve  cents  a  day),  but 
would  not  travel  more  than  a  single  stage  at  a  time.  In 
fact  it  was  quite  an  unusual  thing  on  the  Nimule- 
Gondokoro  road  for  a  single  gang  to  be  going  right 
through. 

The  next  day's  journey  of  fifteen  miles  was  equally 
uninteresting.  We  crossed  three  or  four  watercourses, 
only  two  of  which  boasted  a  little  water  in  pools,  the 
others  being  dry  sandy  beds. 

A  small  herd  of  elephant  had  crossed  the  road  earlier 
in  the  day,  but  there  was  apparently  nothing  big  in  it,  and 
we  had  no  time  to  waste  in  investigation.  We  reached 
camp  at  Gombiri's  at  half-past  ten.  Some  of  the  carriers 
took  eight  hours  to  get  in.  Food  and  spare  carriers  were 
again  obtained  without  much  difficulty,  though  the  first 
supply  of  the  former  was  a  little  modest  and  had  to  be 


N I  MULE  TO  GONDOKORO 


245 


repeated  by  request.  For  our  wants  we  could  get  nothing 
beyond  half  a  dozen  bad  eggs. 

The  natives  along  our  route  were  Bari.  They  were 
mostly  tall,  shifty-eyed,  unprepossessing  and  unattractive 
folk,  singularly  unlike  the  Lango  we  loved. 

The  penalties  of  wading  in  the  Assua  had  begun  to 
make  themselves  felt  by  one  of  us  the  previous  evening, 
and  during  the  day  acute  rheumatic  pains,  somewhat 
complicating  the  problem  of  equilibrium  on  a  bicycle, 
threatened  a  possibly  serious  delay.  Fortunately  they 
wore  off  after  three  days,  and  the  victim,  but  for  the 
memories  of  intermittent  torture,  was  none  the  worse. 

From  Gombiri's  we  went  to  Tombe  Musa,  fourteen 
miles.  The  road  was  quite  suitable  for  bicycling  most  of 
the  way,  and  watered  with  three  fairly  good  streams,  but  it 
was  an  unattractive  country,  and  peopled  by  unattractive 
folk.  Our  twelve  local  natives  from  Gombiri's  were  some 
of  the  lowest  types  we  had  ever  seen. 

Five  minutes'  delay  occurred  on  the  way  to  attend  to 
a  carrier  who  was  rolling  on  the  ground,  doubled  up  in 
agony  and  complaining  that  he  was  dying  of  a  snake.  It 
was  not,  as  we  at  first  believed,  a  snake  bite  that  was 
afflicting  him,  but  merely  his  descriptive  manner  of 
alluding  to  a  pain  in  his  inside.  We  had  hardly  grasped 
the  delicate  distinction  when  Musa  arrived  on  the  scene, 
and,  unrolling  the  victim  on  to  his  back,  proceeded  to 
administer  the  most  drastic  abdominal  massage.  It  seemed 
to  make  him  no  worse,  and  he  turned  up  smiling  later  at 
camp.  A  carrier  who  the  day  before  had  been  suddenly 
and  unaccountably  attacked  by  almost  total  though  pain- 
less paralysis  of  a  leg  also  had — quite  as  unaccountably — 
almost  recovered. 

The  food  supply  was  nearly  as  readily  obtained  as 
before,  though  as  it  did  not  arrive  till  night  we  were  afraid 
at  one  time  that  we  should  have  to  go  and  fetch  it.  It 
had  been  promised  by  a  representative  of  the  Mwanti  who 
had  brought  us  a  supply  of  highly  flavoured  milk  shortly 
after  our  arrival,  but  at  seven  o'clock  there  were  no  signs 
of  it,  though  the  village  was  only  a  couple  of  miles  away. 


246    THROUGH  THE   HEART  OF  AFRICA 


Half-past  eight  and  there  were  still  no  signs,  so  the 
corporal  was  instructed  to  take  half  our  escort  and  make 
polite  inquiries.  As  they  were  starting  they  asked  if  they 
were  to  be  allowed  to  fire  if  they  were  attacked  by  the 
population  or  had  spears  thrown  at  them  from  the  high 
grass.  The  population,  they  declared,  was  not  at  all  a 
pleasant-spoken  crowd,  and  they  were  quite  sure  that  there 
would  be  violence.  We  were  quite  sure  that  there  would 
not,  but  as  they  were  in  that  frame  of  mind  it  was 
obviously  risky  letting  them  go  alone.  With  difficulty 
persuading  Musa  that  something  less  than  our  combined 
battery  was  indispensable,  one  of  us  was  starting  off  when, 
rather  to  our  disappointment,  torches  appeared  in  the 
distance,  an  obliging  and  apologetic  Mwami  appeared  with 
a  couple  of  sheep  for  us  and  meal  for  the  carriers,  and  the 
"  expedition  "  was  "  off." 

The  following  was  Christmas  Day  :  we  had  detected 
it  the  previous  evening,  but  rediscovered  it  at  daybreak 
with  some  surprise.  Our  first  three  days'  journey  had 
necessarily  been  at  rather  a  low  average  owing  to  the 
disposition  of  camps,  on  which,  in  our  ignorance  of  the 
route,  we  had  to  depend  for  water  and  supplies.  We  had 
now  to  begin  making  up  for  it,  and  for  a  start  made 
twenty-two  miles  to  Ledju's,  passing  another  camp  at 
Lokko-Legga's  at  eight  and  three-quarters. 

We  passed  a  quantity  of  elephant  spoor  on  the  way — 
some  of  the  previous  day,  some  of  the  same  morning. 
Any  elephants  that  live  in  those  parts  must  be  hopelessly 
enamoured  of  the  simple  life.  Nothing  in  the  way  of 
sustenance  but  the  scantiest  and  most  ragged  of  thorn 
trees,  and  not  very  many  of  them — though  they  had  been 
making  the  best  of  them.  The  carriers  astonished  us. 
Our  lunch  was  in  before  noon,  and  the  whole  safari  by 
2.25. 

Another  alarm  with  regard  to  the  food  supply  turned 
out  to  be  quite  a  false  one.  A  messenger  to  the  village, 
which  was  close  to  our  camp,  reported  that  not  only  were 
the  chief  and  all  his  representatives  away,  but  that  the 
people  found  at  home  sullenly  refused  to  give  any  intima- 


NIMULE  TO  GONDOKORO  247 

tion  of  their  whereabouts.  The  appearance  of  Ledju  in 
person  less  than  half-an-hour  later,  coupled  with  the  ex- 
ceptional courtesy  of  his  greeting,  was  a  pleasant  surprise, 
and  dispelled  all  our  fear.  His  method  of  salutation  was 
as  charming  as  it  was  rare.  He  was  a  thin,  spare  man  of 
medium  height,  with  an  unusually  thick  shock  of  hair 
standing  out  like  a  mop,  a  large,  mobile,  but  not  very 
thick-lipped  mouth,  and  quiet,  benevolent  expression. 
Doffing  his  fez  cap,  he  first  halted  and  saluted  at  some 
twenty  paces  and  again  at  ten  feet,  then  advancing  to 
where  we  sat  he  saluted  us  one  after  the  other,  grasping 
the  right  hand  in  both  his  own,  bowing  over  it  till  he 
touched  it,  first  with  his  lips,  and  then  with  his  forehead, 
and  then  again  with  his  lips.  He  was  quite  a  graceful 
old  gentleman  and  eager  to  do  our  bidding.  He  told  us 
that  he  and  his  tribe  were  "  Barrrri,"  with  an  imperceptible 
final  vowel  and  a  rolled  "  r  "  that  would  have  done  credit 
to  a  Scottish  comedian. 

In  the  evening  we  visited  his  village.  The  male  in- 
habitants were  mostly  strolling  and  squatting  about  in 
a  state  of  absolute  nudity  that  scorned  even  the  simplest 
ornament.  The  women  generally  affected  the  aprons 
back  and  front  that  we  had  seen  among  the  Lango 
and  Acholi,  though  some  wore  ephemeral  confections 
of  fresh  grass.  Among  the  women's  ornaments  we 
first  noticed  the  necklaces  and  waist-belts  composed 
of  tiny  and  slightly  concave  shells  fitting  closely  into 
one  another  and  strung  upon  a  cord,  giving  the  impression 
of  spangles. 

Ledju  himself  is  a  rather  famous  "rain-maker."  It 
would  appear  to  be  comparatively  simple  to  acquire  and 
retain  a  reputation  as  a  rain-maker.  Not  only  may  the 
magician  refuse  his  services — and  frequently  does  so  if  rain 
is  not  imminent — but  when  he  consents  to  act,  he  does  not 
bind  himself  to  the  observance  of  any  time  limit,  simply 
contenting  himself  with  claiming  the  next  shower  that 
falls  as  due  to  his  powers. 

In  former  times  it  is  possible  that  the  position  was 
somewhat  less  of  a  sinecure,  as  we  are  told  that  in  the 


248     THROUGH  THE  HEART  OF  AFRICA 


case  of  a  persistent  drought  it  was  not  exceptional  for  the 
people  to  assemble  and  kill  the  rain-maker. 

Seventeen  miles  more  brought  us  to  Kiriba — our  last 
camp  before  reaching  Gondokoro.  We  were  not  altogether 
sorry  to  be  reaching  the  end  of  the  trekking  part  of  our 
journey.  A  hundred  and  sixty-one  days  passed  largely 
in  camp  life  had  not,  per  se,  been  anything  of  a  surfeit, 
but  the  last  few  days  had  been  rather  trying  and  quite 
the  least  pleasant  part  of  the  trip.  The  country  was  dull, 
thirsty,  and  uninteresting,  the  natives  apathetic,  sullen,  and 
unattractive,  and  the  heat,  even  in  the  first  three  hours  of 
daylight,  bordered  on  the  oppressive. 

Our  camp  was  a  mile  or  two  from  the  Nile  and  nearly 
opposite  Rejaf,  Captain  Stigand's  headquarters.  Hoping 
to  find  him  in  residence  we  made  our  way  to  the  river 
bank  and  inquired  of  the  natives  what  they  knew  of  his 
whereabouts.  Absolutely  nothing,  they  declared.  He 
might  be  there  or  he  might  not,  but  they  had  no  deal- 
ings of  any  kind  with  the  natives  on  the  other  side. 

It  was  not  intentional  discouragement,  for  a  couple 
of  them  were  quite  ready  to  paddle  across  with  a  note, 
after  a  few  gunshots  had  failed  to  elicit  a  sign  of  any 
particular  activity  from  the  settlement. 

Our  efforts  were  however  merely  rewarded  by  a  reply 
to  the  effect  that  the  Governor  was  away  on  tour.  So 
we  returned  to  camp — not  in  a  very  merry  frame  of  mind, 
for  it  was  past  one  o'clock.  We  had  breakfast  at  half-past 
four,  and  for  the  last  two  hours,  especially  while  waiting 
in  a  little  village  on  the  bank,  the  heat  had  been  infernal. 
A  fairly  strong  and  constant  breeze  took  the  edge  off  it, 
but  the  breeze  itself  was  so  hot  that  it  was  only  from  the 
evaporation  of  one's  own  perspiration  that  one  could  gain 
any  relief. 

The  village  headman,  an  attenuated  man  with  an 
attenuated  voice,  had  saved  our  lives,  we  felt,  by  the  gift 
of  a  bowl  of  milk — which  was  actually  fresh  and  un- 
tainted. The  latter  was  not  a  common  luxury.  Kiriba 
brought  us  about  half  a  gallon  of  milk  the  same  day,  once 
in  the  afternoon  and  again  in  the  evening ;  the  latter  was 


Tine  D.C."s  House  at  Gondokoro. 


NIMULE  TO  GONDOKORO 


249 


at  least  twenty-four  hours  younger  than  the  first,  but  it 
was,  as  usual,  strongly  flavoured  with  the  cow  urine  in 
which  the  local  natives  wash  their  vessels. 

Seven  of  our  carriers  from  Ledju's  we  found  had 
gone  back  without  waiting  for  pay.  We  photographed 
the  remainder  as  comprising  some  of  the  ugliest  faces  we 
had  seen  during  the  whole  trip. 

The  heat  right  up  to  eight  o'clock  at  night  was  aston- 
ishing. There  was  still  quite  a  stiff  breeze  blowing,  yet 
it  seemed  every  bit  as  hot  as  it  had  been  in  the  middle 
of  the  day.  It  was  difficult  to  say  whether  the  breeze 
now  made  it  cooler  or  hotter  than  it  would  have  been 
without  it,  but  it  felt  like  the  breath  of  a  furnace. 

Making  an  early  start  next  morning  we  put  behind  us 
the  sixteen  miles  into  Gondokoro  by  half-past  nine,  mend- 
ing a  final  puncture  on  the  way. 

After  learning  at  the  Post  Office,  where  we  rescued 
some  mails,  that  the  "  post  boat"  due  on  the  28th  would 
be  perhaps  a  week  late,  and  that  one  of  the  Soudan  De- 
velopment and  Exploration  Company's  vessels  would  be 
in  on  or  about  the  ist  of  January,  we  wended  our  way  to 
the  office  and  made  ourselves  known  to  Captain  Henry,  the 
Assistant  District  Commissioner  in  charge. 

Gondokoro  is  but  a  little  less  desirable  resort  than 
Nimule.  The  heat  is  excessive,  the  soil  dusty  and  poor, 
and  the  vegetation  consists  mainly  of  a  few  scorched  and 
distorted  palms. 

The  principal  buildings,  the  office  and  the  resident 
official's  house,  which  are  of  very  inferior  brick,  and 
falling  to  pieces,  do  not  contribute  much  to  the  allevia- 
tion of  their  unattractive  surroundings. 

The  station  has  perhaps  little  in  its  favour  besides  its 
position  on  the  high  banks  overlooking  the  Nile,  but  it 
has  much  greater  possibilities  than  Nimule,  and  a  good 
deal  might  be  done  to  make  it  a  more  desirable  place  to 
live  in. 

We  were  lodged  in  a  roomy  brick  tenement  that  had 
once  been  the  official's  house,  the  other  half  of  which 
was  occupied  by  Captain  Hutchinson,  Superintendent 


250     THROUGH   THE   HEART  OF  AFRICA 


of  Uganda  Marine,  who  was  proceeding  on  leave  and 
awaiting  the  "post  boat,"  and  our  four  days'  stay  was 
made  exceedingly  pleasant  by  Captain  and  Mrs.  Henry's 
hospitality. 

We  were  almost  tempted  by  the  proximity  of  the 
Gondokoro  herd  of  elephant  to  try  and  make  up  our  full 
number,  but  eventually,  though  they  were  so  close  that 
Captain  Henry  had  heard  them  three  days  in  succession 
when  taking  an  ante-breakfast  stroll,  decided  that  they 
were  not  worth  the  trouble.  They  had  been  constantly 
seen,  were  fairly  well  known  to  comprise  no  big  bulls,  and 
to  be  nasty  tempered  ;  while  their  habitat  was  a  particularly 
treeless  bit  of  flat  country  with  long  grass  and  a  few  but 
small  thorns.  So  we  contented  ourselves  with  the  refund, 
on  one  of  our  licences,  of  the  ^20  that  may  be  claimed 
in  the  case  of  a  second  elephant  not  having  been  killed. 

The  second  day  after  our  arrival,  with  the  assistance  of 
the  District  Commissioner's  Indian  clerk  (who,  incidentally, 
was  the  only  one  of  his  kind  whom  we  had  encountered 
in  the  Protectorate  whose  name  was  not  Sousa)  we  held 
a  rather  successful  sale  of  our  superfluous  kit.  The 
buyers  were  the  two  or  three  local  traders,  Greek  and 
Indian,  and  the  Indian  telegraphist. 

Our  bicycles  were  bought  at  each,  in  spite  of  the 
persistent  honesty  with  which  we  pointed  out  that  one  of 
them,  as  a  bicycle,  was  practically  useless  without  a  new 
back  wheel.  For  though  it  had  actually  got  there,  it  was 
obvious,  from  the  terrific  labour  that  was  required  to 
propel  it  the  last  few  miles  into  Gondokoro,  as  well  as  the 
fantastic  oscillations  of  the  wheel  upon  its  hub,  that  final 
disintegration  was  painfully  imminent.  Our  tents  fetched 
about  the  same  price,  and  the  rest  of  our  camp  gear  went 
at  varying  sums.  Uganda  coinage  was  changed  without 
difficulty  into  English  sovereigns  and  Egyptian  silver. 

The  Soudan  Development  and  Exploration  Company 
stern  -  wheeler  Gordon  Pasha  arrived  from  the  north 
on  the  30th  of  December  and  proceeded  the  following 
day  to  Rejaf,  after  having  landed  Mr.  Shaw,  of  the  Church 
Missionary  Society  station  at  Malek,  and  a  Mr.  Blain,  who 


NIMULE  TO  GONDOKORO  251 


was  visiting  Uganda  for  a  shooting  trip.  The  boat's  return 
was  delayed  by  the  various  sandbanks  that  impede  the 
river  above  Gondokoro,  and  she  did  not  make  her  reap- 
pearance till  four  o'clock  on  Saturday  afternoon.  To  our 
surprise  and  delight,  Captain  Stigand  was  on  board  and 
intending  to  accompany  us  as  far  as  Lado. 

We  embarked  at  once,  and  at  a  little  past  five  on  the 
last  day  of  the  year  we  had  said  good-bye  to  our  host 
and  hostess  and,  turning  our  backs  on  Uganda,  were 
steaming  down  the  Nile.  Since  leaving  our  stations  in 
Rhodesia  we  had  covered  altogether  3020  miles,  of 
which  1720  had  been  walking  and  cycling,  607  by  lake 
steamers,  520  on  the  Uganda  railway,  and  the  balance  by 
motor  vans  in  the  East  Africa  and  Uganda  Protectorate. 

During  our  seventy  days'  visit  in  the  Uganda  Pro- 
tectorate we  had  been  unable  to  visit  the  Toro,  Ankole, 
Elgon,  Busoga,  and  Rudolph  districts,  but  we  had  seen 
and  learnt  something  of  the  Buganda  province  and  a  good 
deal  of  the  Bunyoro,  Lango,  and  Nile  districts. 

Of  these  sections  the  Rudolph  district  is  as  yet  quite 
unadministered,  the  Nile  province  (Lango,  Choli,  and 
Bari)  only  partially  controlled,  and  till  1910  was  unad- 
ministered except  for  a  narrow  strip  along  the  river. 
Buganda,  Bunyoro,  Toro,  and  Ankole  are  not  only 
thoroughly  administered,  but  show  in  some  respects  a 
higher  state  of  advancement  than  any  other  part  of 
tropical  Africa  known  to  us. 

While  tempering  our  admiration  for  this  by  the  reflec- 
tion that  there  was  already  existing  among  the  native 
population  an  exceptionally  high  social  and  political 
organisation  on  which  the  present  enlightened  and  more 
civilised  system  has  been  grafted,  it  is  only  fair  that  adverse 
criticism  should  allow  that  the  very  existence  of  this 
organisation  may  have  involved  certain  difficulties  of 
adaptation  which  are,  in  a  measure  at  any  rate,  responsible 
for  present  defects. 

It  may  be,  in  short,  that  the  system's  defects  are  those 
of  its  qualities. 

The  administrative  system  of  the  Uganda  Protectorate 


252     THROUGH  THE  HEART  OF  AFRICA 


is  largely  one  of  decentralisation.  Immediately  after  the 
Governor  come  the  Provincial  Commissioners,  of  whom 
there  are  two,  though  there  is  provision  for  four  ;  under 
the  Provincial  Commissioners  are  the  District  Com- 
missioners and  Assistant  District  Commissioners.  All 
communications  between  headquarters  and  district 
officials  have  to  pass  through  the  Provincial  Commissioner 
(or  Senior  District  Commissioner  acting  as  Provincial 
Commissioner),  and,  if  from  an  Assistant  District  Com- 
missioner, through  the  District  Commissioner  first. 

There  are,  of  course,  excellent  reasons  for  the  adop- 
tion of  a  general  policy  of  decentralisation,  and  we  have 
an  especially  interesting  manifestation  of  it  in  Uganda,  as 
here,  where  their  intelligence  and  organisation  admits  of 
it,  it  is  carried  right  down  into  the  administration  of  the 
natives.  Now  the  dangers  of  this  are  potential  rather 
than  inherent,  but  certain  of  the  conditions  under  which 
it  is  worked  (though  at  the  same  time  it  is  just  the 
existence  and  operation  of  it  that  make  those  conditions 
possible)  seem  bound  to  bring  out  its  worst  faults.  We 
refer  to  the  practice,  apparently  general  and  deliberate,  of 
constantly  moving  the  district  officials  at  short  intervals 
from  post  to  post. 

With  the  exception  of  thetwo  Provincial  Commissioners 
every  member  of  the  district  staff  is  liable  to  be  moved 
from  one  corner  of  the  Protectorate  to  the  other,  and  is 
rarely,  if  ever,  more  than  two  years — frequently  not  more 
than  a  few  months — in  charge  of  the  same  station. 

So  far  as  the  junior  members  are  concerned,  the 
practice  has  much  to  recommend  it,  but  when  it  is  carried 
up  to  the  higher  grades  its  disadvantages  begin  to  be 
apparent,  and  the  frequency  with  which  even  a  Senior 
District  Commissioner  may  be  moved  from,  say,  the 
Northern  Province  to  Elgon,  and  then  after  a  short 
interval  to  Ankole,  and  again  to  some  post  in  Buganda, 
is  a  feature  that  has  already  lent  itself  to  a  good  deal  of 
criticism.^    Let  us  briefly  examine  the  system  of  native 

^  Even  in  cases  of  junior  officials  it  can  be  carried  too  far.  One  Assistant 
District  Commissioner,  in  charge  of  a  district,  had  been  at  nine  different  stations 
in  the  space  of  two  years. 


NIMULE  TO  GONDOKORO  253 


administration  and  the  effect  on  it  of  this  practice  of  con- 
stantly changing  the  district  officials. 

The  official  administers  his  district  and  derives  his 
information  mainly  through  the  chiefs,  by  means  of  a 
system  of  regular  and  complete  reports.  It  is  through 
them  largely  that  he  knows  his  people,  and  there  is  conse- 
quently a  risk  that  he  derives  relatively  little  information 
from  any  other  source  and  that  he  contents  himself  with 
seeing  everything  through  their  eyes. 

The  powers  in  the  hands  of  the  chiefs  are  judicial  as 
well  as  administrative  and'exceptionally  wide.  They  have 
their  own  civil  and  criminal  courts,  their  own  gaols,  the 
right  to  imprison  therein,  and  within  limitations  the 
power  of  life  and  death.  ^ 

As  to  the  manner  in  which  these  powers  are  exercised 
for  the  management  of  their  internal  affairs  we  had  no 
means  of  learning.  But  the  extent  to  which,  apart  from 
the  administration  of  purely  internal  affairs,  the  chiefs  are 
depended  upon  as  the  medium  through  which  the  District 
Commissioner  rules  is  sufficiently  obvious. 

To  rule  through  the  chiefs  should  be  the  aim  and 
object  of  all  native  administrations,  and  it  would  be  folly 
not  to  maintain  as  far  as  possible  the  efficient  machinery 
that  already  exists  in  Uganda  for  this  method  of  govern- 
ment. The  system  is  an  ideal  one,  but  without  relentless 
supervision  and  checking  it  is  inevitable  that  it  must  result 
in  corruption  and  abuse. 

The  District  Commissioner  need  not  take  the  work 
out  of  the  hands  of  the  chiefs,  but  he  and  his  assistants 
might  yet  take  an  active  and  independent  part  in  the 
administration  and  see  things  for  themselves  as  well  as 
through  the  eyes  of  the  "  Kabaka "  and  "  Sasa "  chiefs. 
Nor  is  there  any  doubt  that  they  would  do  so,  and  effi- 
ciently, were  they  left  long  enough  in  one  district  to 
master  more  than  the  mere  details  of  routine.  As  it  is,  a 
District  Commissioner,  on  taking  charge  of  a  new  district, 

^  The  "Kabaka"  can  condemn  and  sentence  to  death,  though  the  sentence 
has  to  be  confirmed  by  the  High  Court.  The  "  Sasa  "  or  "  county  "  chiefs  as  well 
as  the  Kabaka  have  their  courts  and  gaols.  The  former  is  a  considerably  greater 
power  than  those  exercised  by  the  District  Commissioner. 


254    THROUGH  THE   HEART  OF  AFRICA 


finds  the  old  machinery  running  smoothly,  the  chiefs 
apparently  doing  their  work  efficiently  and  reporting 
regularly,  and  knowing  that  he  is  unlikely  to  remain  long 
enough  to  acquire  a  thorough  insight  into  things,  naturally 
accepts  them  as  they  are. 

The  system  in  force  demands  an  impossibly  high 
standard  of  integrity  as  well  as  mere  intelligence  from  the 
native.  That  abuses  are  not  more  frequent  or  more 
flagrant  is  due  no  doubt  to  a  standard  that  is  exceptional, 
but  even  the  enlightened  Muganda  is  but  an  African 
native,  and  cannot  be  regarded  as  free  from  the  weak- 
nesses, common  to  all  inferior  races  from  the  Bushman 
to  the  Egyptian  and  the  Hindu,  that  prove  him  to  be  as 
yet  unfit  for  self-government. 

The  irregularities  connived  at,  or  perhaps  even  en- 
couraged by  the  chiefs  of  which  the  District  Commissioner 
knows  nothing  ^  may  at  present  be  trifling,  but  given  an 
ambitious,  unscrupulous  chief  capable  of  taking  advantage 
of  the  existing  conditions,  considerable  harm  might  be 
done  before  the  official  became  aware  of  it.  The  possible 
irregularities,  after  all,  are  not  everything.  There  is  the 
eflfect  upon  the  officials  themselves.  It  amounts  practi- 
cally to  this,  that  there  is  a  risk  of  excellent  material 
running  to  waste.  Native  administration  is  robbed  of 
half  its  pleasure  when  it  is  carried  on  by  an  indirect  system 
of  deputies.    It  becomes  narrow  and  uninteresting,  and  it 

*  Only  the  more  important  chiefs  are  allowed  to  hunt  elephants  (two  each 
year)  and  the  ordinary  native  is  forbidden  to  kill  any  of  the  animals  even  when 
damage  feasant,  but  in  reality  a  good  deal  of  elephant  hunting  is  surreptitiously 
indulged  in  by  the  population.  A  native  frankly  told  us  that  he  and  his  friends 
had  wounded  six  within  two  months.  One  had  already  died,  and  some  of  the 
others  were  sick  and  he  wanted  us  to  go  and  finish  them  off  for  him. 

These  elephants  eventually  die  and  are  then  reported  as  found  dead,  and  the 
"finder"'  receives  a  percentage  of  the  value  of  the  ivory.  The  average  chief — 
even  if  he  does  not  get  a  share  of  the  spoils — can  hardly  be  expected  to  court 
unpopularity  by  reporting  the  delinquents.  The  above  case  occurred  within 
forty  miles  of  an  important  station.  It  is  a  minor  case,  but  it  shows  that  if  the 
Government  is  to  know  what  is  going  on  there  must  be  other  sources  of  informa- 
tion than  the  chiefs  alone.  If  breaches  of  the  game  regulations  can  be  concealed, 
other  irregularities  may  also  be  committed  without  detection.  That  the  sup- 
pression is  wilful  may  be  deduced  from  the  fact  that  the  District  Commissioners 
Ijoast,  and  not  without  reason,  that  few,  if  any,  breaches  of  the  game  regulations 
by  Europeans  go  unreported — simply  because  it  is  not  to  the  interest  of  the 
natives  to  conceal  them. 


NIMULE  TO  GONDOKORO 


255 


is  ipso  facto  unlikely,  if  not  impossible,  that  the  official  will 
put  his  best  into  his  work. 

Relying  as  he  does  upon  his  chiefs'  reports,  it  is  natural 
that  the  District  Commissioner's  personal  visits  to  his  people 
are  restricted  and  perfunctory.  They  tend,  in  short,  to  be 
but  formal  tours  of  inspection.  He  does  not,  in  the 
ordinary  course  of  things,  leave  the  beaten  tracks  to  visit 
outlying  villages  or  grovips,  but  passes  from  centre  to 
centre,  and  from  one  big  chief's  to  another's,  keeping  to 
the  principal  roads  and  generally  without  varying  his  route. 
Should  the  natives  of  any  other  villages  besides  those  of 
the  important  chiefs  have  any  case  or  complaint  to  bring 
before  him  they  must  go  to  his  camping-places,  and,  as  a 
rule,  be  introduced  by  the  local  chief. 

It  is  obvious  that  if  the  District  Commissioner  were 
able  to  make  a  point  of  travelling  about  amongst  the 
people  and  o£f  the  beaten  tracks,  he  would  rapidly  become 
au  fait  with  many  things  of  which  at  present  he  is  bound 
to  remain  in  ignorance,  and  be  able  to  keep  in  closer  touch 
with  his  subjects.  Considering  the  fact  that  the  staff  at 
the  central  stations  consists  of  a  District  Commissioner,  an 
Assistant  District  Commissioner,  a  Medical  Officer,  a  Police 
Officer,  and  a  Public  Works  Engineer,  besides  Indian  or 
Goanese  for  clerical  and  postal  work,  it  is  clearly  not  over- 
work that  prevents  a  more  thorough  system  of  district 
travelling.  It  is  the  fault  of  the  machinery  ;  and  yet  not 
of  the  machinery  alone,  but  of  the  extent  to  which,  owing 
to  his  constant  transfer,  the  official  is  unable  to  do  more 
than  make  use  of  the  machinery  as  it  exists,  or  to  test  by 
personal  knowledge  the  efficiency  of  its  working. 

He  is  unable  to  master  the  local  language  and  is  forced 
to  rely  entirely  on  the  official  Ki-Swahili,  which  is  only 
understood  by  the  chiefs  and  more  advanced  natives  and 
not  by  the  rank  and  file  of  the  population.  Hence  in  the 
hearing  and  settlement  of  native  cases  and  complaints,  either 
at  his  station  or  on  tour,  he  is  largely  at  the  mercy  of  an 
interpreter,  while  in  the  latter  case  probably  only  those 
plaintiffs  whose  application  is  approved  by  the  chief  succeed 
in  gaining  a  hearing. 


256    THROUGH   THE   HEART  OF  AFRICA 


Even  where  the  official  has  been  keen  enough  and  has 
had  time  to  acquire  a  working  knowledge  of  the  language 
in  one  district,  his  removal  elsewhere  would,  in  nine  cases 
out  of  ten,  result  in  him  being  too  disheartened  to  begin 
upon  another.^ 

One  of  the  most  important  factors  in  the  satisfactory 
and  successful  administration  of  natives  is  thus  eliminated, 
viz.  the  ruler's  knowledge  of  and  sympathy  with  the  ruled. 
No  matter  how  keen  or  efficient  a  man  may  be  he  will  not 
be  able,  in  such  spasmodic  intervals,  to  acquire  more  than 
a  superficial  and  second-hand  knowledge  of  the  people  in 
his  charge,  or  of  the  inside  working  of  his  district. 

Further,  there  can  be  little  doubt  that  the  personaHty  of 
the  official  is  of  considerable  value  in  the  management  of 
native  races.  It  need  not  necessarily  be  a  very  strong  one, 
but  the  actual  acquaintance  with  and  influence  of  their 
white  ruler's  personality  is  of  real  importance  to  the  natives. 
They  take  an  interest  in  him,  want  to  know  him,  and,  making 
tremendous  allowance  for  his  faults,  even  if  they  notice 
them,  are  far  more  amenable  when  they  do  know  him. 

The  official  who  is  constantly  moved  from  post  to  post 
has  no  chance  of  becoming  a  living  personality  to  the 
greater  number  of  his  people.  He  cannot  become  a  friend, 
counsellor,  and  trusted  head-chief  as  he  should  be. ^  He  is 
little  more  than  a  figurehead,  the  representative  for  the 
time  being  of  the  abstract  Government.  Their  chiefs  the 
natives  know,  but  the  District  Commissioner — who  is  he  ? 
Here  to-day  and  gone  to-morrow,  seldom  penetrating  into 
the  corners  of  their  country,  he  is  and  must  be,  under  this 
system,  more  or  less  of  a  stranger.  Consequently  the 
position  of  the  chief  becomes  stereotyped  as  that  of  the 
"  middleman "  ;  there  is  little  or  no  direct  intercourse 
between  the  official  and  the  people,  and  no  encouragement 
or  opportunity  for  them  to  talk  to  him  of  things  that  do 
not  meet  the  eye. 

*  t.g.  We  only  met  one  district  official  who  could  converse  with  the  Baganda 
in  their  own  language,  and  he  was  in  a  district  where  a  knowledge  of  Luganda 
was  absolutely  useless  to  him  except  for  conversing  with  his  personal  servants. 

-  "  Native  administration  should  be  more  paternal  than  official :  the  seat  and 
centre  of  authority  should  be  visible,  permanent,  and  accessible  "  (Report  of  Natal 
Native  Affaits  Commission). 


NIMULE  TO  GONDOKORO  257 


A  not  uncommon  source  of  information  is  provided  by 
the  missions.  The  teachers  and  catechists,  who  are  working 
in  or  constantly  visiting  all  parts  of  the  country,  naturally 
hear  much  of  what  is  going  on,  and  retail  some  of  it  to  the 
missionaries,  who,  if  their  communications  be  of  sufficient 
importance,  pass  them  on  to  the  official.  But  though 
perhaps  occasionally  of  value,  such  information  must  be 
often  discounted  by  the  same  considerations  as  those  that 
apply  to  the  revelations  of  the  interested  chief,  and  at  the 
best,  information  from  such  a  source  is  slipshod,  irregular, 
and  unsystematic. 

Where  independent  information  is  obtained  the  ten- 
dency seems  rather  to  keep  it  in  reserve  for  use  should  it 
bear  upon  other  matters,  than  to  act  upon  it  for  the  cor- 
rection of  existing  irregularities.  This,  of  course,  is  no  sort 
of  policy,  and  none  know  it  better  than  those  who  adopt  it. 
"  But  what  is  the  use  of  worrying  ?  "  they  ask.  "  We  may  be 
here  a  year,  we  may  be  here  less ;  is  it  worth  while  upsetting 
a  system  that  we  may  not  have  time  really  to  readjust  ?  " 

The  surprising  thing  is  that  under  the  circumstances 
the  results  are  not  more  pernicious  than  they  are.  But 
the  fact  that  they  are  not  does  not  seem  a  sound  enough 
argument  for  continuance  of  the  system.  Presumably  the 
attitude  is :  "  Things  work  pretty  well  really,  we  know 
of  no  serious  irregularities,  we  can  afford  to  overlook  a 
few  trifles."  Very  well  ;  but  what,  after  all,  is  the  object  of 
this  game  of  "general  post"  among  the  district  officials? 
What  is  the  vast  consideration  for  which  administrative 
anomalies  are  to  be  tolerated  and  the  apathy  of  the  best 
officials  reckoned  of  no  account  ? 

The  only  reason  we  heard  put  forward  was  that  there 
were  some  stations  in  the  Uganda  Protectorate  at  which 
no  official  could  be  expected  to  remain  a  long  period,  e.g. 
that  it  was  not  fair  to  keep  men  in  unhealthy  districts  like 
X.  or  at  hot  stations  like  Y.  for  more  than  a  short  spell  or 
to  send  them  back  there  on  their  return  from  leave.  We 
happened  to  mention  this  to  the  official  at  Y.  and  he  replied 
that  he  would  rather  remain  at  Y.  all  his  life  than  be  moved 
again  and  again — most  of  all  moved  to  such  stations  as 

R 


258    THROUGH  THE   HEART  OF  AFRICA 

A.,  B.,  or  C,  which  were  considered  at  headquarters  to  be 
the  most  desirable  stations  in  the  country. 

In  other  words,  if,  as  we  were  given  to  understand, 
consideration  for  the  officials  is  the  sole  reason  for  the 
policy  of  moving  them  so  often  from  place  to  place,  it  is 
based  on  misapprehension  of  their  wishes.  They  would 
far  rather  have  an  opportunity  of  learning  one  district 
well,  and  administering  it  efficiently. 

Granted  that  there  are  stations  like  X.  and  Y.  at  which 
the  conditions  are  such  as  to  preclude  a  protracted  resi- 
dence, they  are  probably  not  the  majority.  Why,  then, 
should  the  whole  service  be  affected  by  the  desire  to  give 
the  official  at  an  unhealthy  station  a  change  ?  Why,  too, 
should  there  be  a  desire  to  make  this  change  so  complete 
that  in  many  cases  when  an  official  has  spent  one  term  at 
one  of  these  stations  and,  incidentally,  has  begun  to  get  a 
grip  of  local  affairs  and  an  interest  in  his  work,  he  is  never 
sent  there  again  ? 

It  would  not  seem  to  be  a  matter  of  much  difficulty  to 
devise  a  system  by  which  the  official  at  an  unhealthy 
station  is  given  his  change,  and  at  the  same  time  that 
station  be  generally,  if  not  always,  in  the  charge  of  one  who 
has  already  acquired  some  knowledge  of  its  w-orking. 

(In  "unhealthy  stations"  we  purposely  do  not  include 
those  which  from  their  mere  remoteness  are  frequently  but 
erroneously  considered  undesirable.) 

At  the  most  it  would  require  the  addition  of  one  or  two 
more  officials  to  the  staff  of  the  district  in  question  so  that 
there  might  always  be  one  of  previous  local  experience  to 
take  the  place  of  the  official  to  be  relieved.  The  extra 
expense  would  be  probably  more  than  balanced  by  the 
advantages  both  to  the  administration  and  to  the  officials 
themselves. 

It  is  a  little  surprising  that  in  a  highly  organised  native 
administration  such  as  that  of  Uganda  there  should  be  no 
attempt  at  the  compilation  of  a  native  census.  With  the 
existing  machinery  it  would  be  a  matter  of  little  or  no 
difficulty,  and  would  prove  of  immense  utility  in  every 
branch  of  the  administration,  as  has  been  aptly  demon- 


NIMULE  TO  GONDOKORO 


strated  in  those  parts  of  Africa  where  a  complete  census 
has  been  made  and  kept  up  to  date.  In  Uganda,  with  the 
present  migratory  system  for  officials,  it  would  probably  be 
of  even  more  use  than  elsewhere.  For  a  good  census  soon 
includes  much  more  information  than  lists  of  names,  and 
its  perusal  would  give  the  strange  District  Commissioner 
some  idea  of  the  individuality  of  his  subjects. 

The  "  agent "  system  of  the  Eastern  Province  has 
already  been  commented  upon.  For  the  rest  all  seems 
admirable.  The  general  administration  ;  the  orderly  be- 
haviour of  the  population  in  the  administered  parts,  and 
the  courtesy  of  the  chiefs  and  people  ;  the  network  of 
excellent  roads  which  are  justly  famous  through  half 
Africa  ;  the  encouragement  given  to  agriculture  and  the 
development  of  the  country's  natural  resources — these 
leave  a  deep  and  lasting  impression.  The  natives  are 
industrious  and  steady  workers,  and  earn  a  regular  income 
from  the  cultivation  of  cotton,  coffee,  and  sim-sim,  and 
thus  have  ample  opportunities  of  earning  the  money  re- 
quired for  the  payment  of  the  poll-tax  (Rs.3)  and  the 
rent  (Rs.2)  which  they  have  to  pay  to  their  chiefs. 

The  fact  that  in  the  previous  year  the  actual  revenue 
was  ^40,000  more  than  had  been  estimated  is  a  suffi- 
ciently convincing  proof  of  the  prosperity  of  the  Protec- 
torate. Half  of  the  surplus  so  earned  goes  automatically 
towards  the  reduction  of  the  grant-in-aid,  and  the  other 
half  is  devoted  to  the  development  of  the  country  by  im- 
proving the  communications,  and  so  on.  The  total  revenue 
for  the  last  year  for  which  figures  are  available  (191  o,  11) 
was  ^191,000,  the  expenditure  5 2,000,  and  the  grant- 
in-aid  ^96,000,  compared  with  five  years  ago  when  the 
figures  were  (for  1905,  6):  revenue  £77,000,  expenditure 
;^i73,ooo,  and  the  grant-in-aid  ^103,000.  To  a  planter 
with  a  capital  of  about  ^2000  it  holds  out  excellent  pros- 
pects. After  three  years  he  should  be  getting  good  returns  : 
first  from  coffee,  later  from  cocoa,  and  finally  from  rubber. 
And  those  responsible  for  the  Government  seem  as  intent 
on  making  the  best  of  the  unrivalled  material  in  the  native 
population  as  on  developing  to  their  utmost  the  agricultural 
resources  of  the  country. 


XVII 


THE  SOUDAN 

The  Gordon  Pasha — New  Year's  Eve  at  Lado  —  Mongalla  —  The 
Dinka  tribe — An  old  friend — The  sudd — Bahr-el-Ghazal  and  Sobat 
— Kodok — The  White  Nile  railway  bridge — Khartoum — Omdur- 
man — Khalifa's  palace,  Mahdi's  tomb,  and  market-place — School 
and  hospital — The  Gordon  College — The  Nubian  Desert — Wady 
Haifa. 

The  Gordon  Pasha  is  an  example  of  the  best  type  of 
stern-wheeler  and  one  of  the  newest  and  finest  boats  on 
the  Upper  Nile.  The  main  deck  contains  a  roomy  saloon, 
cabins  and  accommodation  for  eight  passengers,  including 
a  cabin-de-luxe  at  the  stern.  The  latter  we  were  fortunate 
in  finding  available  for  our  use.  It  measured  fourteen 
by  sixteen  feet,  was  furnished  with  comfortable  bunks,  four 
windows  and  two  doors,  one  of  the  latter  leading  into 
the  bathroom.  The  windows  and  main  door  were,  as 
throughout  the  boat,  fitted  with  mosquito  screens.  After 
the  limited  conveniences  of  camp  life  this  was  the  height 
of  luxury. 

The  second  and  third  class  accommodation  was 
provided  by  a  two-storied  lighter,  or  barge,  lashed  to 
the  port  side.  On  this  was  also  piled  the  stock  of  fuel, 
replenished  from  time  to  time  from  wooding  stations  en 
route,  while  sundry  cargo  was  stowed  in  the  shallow  hold. 

The  upper  deck  was  devoted  to  the  second  class 
(Greek  and  Egyptian  traders  and  such),  the  lower  to 
negroes.  Their  cooking  was  done  in  a  bucket  in  the 
bows,  in  which  a  fire  was  constantly  kept  burning. 

Occasionally  these  Nile  steamers  carry  two  or  more 
barges — sometimes  two  lashed  together  and  pushed  in 
front  of  their  bows. 

The  cool  breeze  on  the  river,  heightened  by  the  motion 


THE  SOUDAN 


261 


of  the  steamer,  was  delightfully  refreshing  after  the  stifling 
heat  on  land,  and  the  next  hour  to  Lado,  spent  mainly  in 
talking  over  old  times  with  Captain  Stigand,  whom  we 
had  not  seen  for  some  years,  had  gone  by  almost  before 
we  realised  that  we  had  started. 

Lado  is  a  desolate  encampment  on  the  left  bank  of 
the  Nile,  which,  we  were  not  surprised  to  learn,  is  shortly 
to  be  abandoned  in  favour  of  some  more  salubrious  spot. 
Messrs.  Done  and  Bruce,  whom  we  found  in  charge,  wel- 
comed Bimbashi  Stigand  and  ourselves  and  invited  us  to 
see  the  New  Year  in  at  their  mess.  We  had  previously 
been  sceptical  about  the  necessity  of  dining  under  a 
mosquito-net  even  on  the  Nile,  but  our  evening  at  Lado 
succeeded  in  completely  converting  us.  In  spite  of  its 
protection  and  the  added  precaution  of  wrapping  a  coat 
and  a  bath-towel  round  our  legs  and  covering  the  per- 
forated chairs  with  copies  of  the  Field,  we  were  in 
considerable  misery  the  whole  evening.  There  were 
swarms  of  them,  and  they  bit  through  shirt,  trousers,  socks 
and  everything.  We  were  assured  that  we  were  really 
fortunate — that  it  was  nothing  to  Lado  at  its  worst,  but 
even  as  we  saw  it  we  have  no  compunction  in  assigning 
it  one  of  the  places  of  honour  among  the  pest-ridden  spots 
of  the  earth.  The  conversation  during  and  after  dinner 
mostly  turned  upon  the  affairs  of  this,  the  most  recent 
addition  ^  to  the  provinces  of  the  Empire,  and  it  was  good 
news  to  hear  that  in  spite  of  the  depredations  of  hunters 
during  the  interregnum  preceding  its  absorption  in  the 
Soudan  there  are  still  large  numbers  of  elephant,  white 
rhino,  and  other  game.  Indeed,  while  we  sat  under  that 
mosquito-net  a  herd  of  elephants  could  be  heard  trumpet- 
ing in  a  khor  quite  close. 

Shortly  before  midnight,  after  exchanging  wishes  for 
a  happy  New  Year,  we  took  our  leave  and  returned  to  the 
steamer,  where  we  were  relieved  to  find  our  cabin  com- 
paratively free  from  mosquitoes. 

Weighing  anchor  at  dawn  we  reached  Mongalla,  the 

^  It  had  been  leased  to  the  King  of  the  Belgians  during  his  lifetime,  though 
actually  belonging  to  Great  Britain, 


262    THROUGH  THE  HEART  OF  AFRICA 


headquarters  of  the  province  of  the  same  name,  at  eight 
o'clock.  Owen  Bey,  the  Governor  of  the  province,  came 
down  to  greet  us,  and  we  regretted  that  having  already 
been  longer  than  we  had  intended  over  the  first  part  of 
our  journey,  we  were  unable  to  spend  some  time  in  his 
district,  for  we  learnt  from  him,  as  we  had  already  done 
from  Bimbashi  Stigand,  that  His  Excellency  the  Sirdar, 
who  had  been  advised  of  our  coming,  had  kindly  issued 
instructions  that  every  facility  be  given  us  by  his  officers 
with  whom  we  might  come  into  contact  during  our  visit 
to  the  Soudan.  We  would  gladly  have  availed  ourselves  of 
this  opportunity  to  study  the  conditions  prevailing  in  the 
country,  and  would  especially  have  enjoyed  an  excursion 
into  the  Mongalla  province  and  a  tour  in  Kordofan,  The 
riverain  population  forms  but  a  small  proportion  of  the 
whole,  and  a  real  insight  into  the  country  cannot  be  gained 
without  penetrating  into  the  interior,  of  which  we  heard 
(especially  from  a  fellow-passenger,  Mr.  Brownsworth  of 
the  Kordofan  Trading  Company)  a  rather  tempting 
description. 

After  anchoring  at  a  wooding  station  principally 
notable  for  its  mosquitoes,  we  started  at  half-past  five  and 
at  nine  o'clock  reached  Malek,  where  we  dropped  Mr. 
Shaw,  after  going  ashore  with  him  and  visiting  his  station 
and  the  Dinka  villages  close  by. 

With  the  exception  of  a  few  of  the  inland  cattle-rearing 
members  of  the  tribe,  who  were  sharing  huge  beehive 
huts  with  the  herds  in  their  charge,  the  whole  population 
consisted  of  the  riverain  Dinka,  who  are  chiefly  fishermen. 
Like  the  Bari  farther  south  they  live  in  a  state  of  complete 
nudity,  only  smearing  their  bodies  with  cow-dung  ash  as 
a  preventive  of  mosquito  bites.  They  complete  their 
toilet  by  dyeing  their  hair  with  cow-urine  to  a  reddish- 
yellow. 

We  learnt  some  strange  and  interesting  facts  about 
these  people.  One  of  their  prophets,  Mr.  Shaw  told  us, 
had  not  only  foretold  the  coming  of  Halley's  Comet  seven 
months  before  its  appearance  (which,  after  all,  he  might 
have  learnt  from  some  ordinary  source),  but  had  impressed 


THE  SOUDAN 


263 


upon  his  people  that  its  appearance,  so  far  from  being  a 
signal  for  war  or  strife,  must  be  marked  by  universal 
abstention  from  any  kind  of  violence.  The  population 
of  a  whole  village  had  subsequently  been  thrown  into  a 
state  of  terrible  anxiety  because,  during  this  millennium, 
one  of  their  number  had  so  far  disregarded  the  prophet's 
warning  as  to  clout  his  wife  over  the  head  and  cut  it  open. 
A  still  more  striking  circumstance  was  that  the  said  prophet 
had  identified  his  own  general  precepts  and  teaching  with 
those  of  the  Christian  religion  as  propounded  by  Mr. 
Shaw.  The  latter  had  been  more  than  surprised  when 
an  audience  of  his  remarked  at  the  end  of  a  discourse 
that  they  had  been  taught  just  that  kind  of  thing  by  their 
own  fellow-countryman.  Mr.  Shaw  put  it  to  the  test  by 
visiting  the  man,  and  found  him  astonishingly  in  accord 
with  his  own  teaching. 

An  agreeable  surprise  awaited  us  at  Bor,  which  we 
reached  at  noon  the  same  day.  The  Bimbashi  in  charge 
proved  to  be  an  old  friend,  in  the  person  of  Captain  C.  V. 
Fox  of  the  Scots  Guards.  Fourteen  years  had  elapsed  since 
our  last  meeting,  but  the  twenty  minutes'  halt  was  made 
the  best  of  for  a  stimulating  discussion  of  old  times. 

Nine  hours  after  leaving  Bor — a  dull  spot  populated 
with  the  lowest  type  of  Dinka — we  arrived  at  Kerissa,  and 
after  spending  nearly  another  two  hours  taking  in  fuel, 
continued  our  journey  through  the  night — the  previous 
wooding  station  having  been  the  last  place  at  which  we 
had  to  tie  up  when  darkness  fell. 

In  the  morning  we  found  we  had  entered  that  waste 
of  wastes — the  sudd — through  which  we  were  to  steam 
for  two  days  and  another  night. 

The  sudd  is  a  thing  one  must  see  to  realise.  Once 
the  last  tree  of  the  upper  reaches  is  left  behind,  it  becomes 
an  endless  sea  of  green  monotony,  reaching  apparently  to 
the  ends  of  the  earth,  and  unbroken  by  even  a  leaf  or  a 
twig  one  inch  above  the  level  of  the  feathery  papyrus 
tops.  Seen  from  the  deck  of  a  comfortable  Nile  steamer, 
with  a  cool  breeze  blowing  and  practically  no  discomfort 
but  the  constant  shifting  of  the  sun's  rays  as  the  river 


264    THROUGH  THE   HEART  OF  AFRICA 


winds  and  winds  again,  one  feels  it  to  be  fairly  innocent 
and  even  beautiful  with  its  gently  swaying,  soft,  unchanging 
green.  But  those  who  have  had  any  experience  of  the 
drudgery  of  making  one's  way  in  a  small  boat  along  the 
narrow  waterways  through  this  clogging  pest-ridden  vege- 
tation— as  we  had  both  had,  to  a  small  extent,  in  the 
Bangweulu  swamps — can  guess  at  its  possibilities,  and  we 
were  reminded  of  the  terrible  four  months  spent  in  this 
region  by  Dr.  Milne  and  Captain  Gage  when  finding  a 
channel  through  the  sudd  in  1898.  This  courageous  and 
perilous  achievement,  like  too  many  brilliant  exploits  in 
African  history,  is  in  danger  of  lapsing  into  oblivion. 
Mr.  E.  S.  Grogan,  in  his  Cape  to  Cairo,  alludes  to  "  this 
successful  attempt  of  Captain  Gage,  of  the  7th  Dragoon 
Guards,  and  Dr.  Milne,  as  one  of  the  most  daring  feats 
ever  accomplished  in  the  history  of  African  travel.  They 
suffered  indescribable  hardships  for  nearly  four  months, 
during  all  of  which  time  they  hardly  slept  one  night  on 
land,  but  were  compelled  to  see  the  long  hours  of  dark- 
ness through,  night  after  night,  cramped  up  in  a  small 
boat  or  lying  on  the  vegetation,  tormented  by  myriads  of 
mosquitoes,  and  with  very  little  more  substantial  than 
native  porridge  to  keep  their  spirits  up.  Day  after  day, 
nothing  but  that  vast  expanse  of  weed,  of  a  hopelessness 
beyond  civilised  conception  ;  day  after  day  dragging  their 
boats  through  and  over  stinking  bogs  and  spongy  masses 
of  weed  tenanted  by  a  thousand  crocodiles — not  knowing 
where  they  were,  nor,  in  characteristic  British  fashion, 
caring,  yet  ever  keeping  their  face  forward,  strong  in  the 
knowledge  that  perseverance  must  succeed.  Their  food 
ran  short,  and  to  return  was  impossible.  Had  they  not 
come  unexpectedly  upon  Major  Peake's  steamers  they 
would  probably  all  have  perished.  Very  few  people  can 
ever  have  any  conception  of  the  magnitude  and  apparent 
hopelessness  of  their  task." 

Though  bumping  first  on  one  side  and  then  on  the 
other  as  the  current  swings  the  steamer  back  and  fro  in 
the  winding  and  narrow  channels,  the  passage  is  now  free 
from  discomfort,  but  one  cannot  help  thinking  of  the  hard- 


Inland  Dinka  Hut. 


THE  SOUDAN 


265 


ships  of  the  men  who  first  forced  their  way  through  those 
channels,  and  whose  daring  and  tenacity  made  possible  the 
luxurious  travelling  of  the  present  day. 

On  the  morning  of  the  5th  the  Bahr-el-Gebel  was  left 
behind  and  we  were  steaming  east  towards  Taufikia  and 
the  junction  of  the  Sobat,  which  we  reached  at  10  A.M. 
The  White  Nile — as  the  river  is  called  after  the  junction 
of  the  Bahr-el-Ghazal  and  Bahr-el-Gebel — is  here  a  broad 
waterway,  dotted  with  islands  of  floating  vegetation  that 
have  broken  loose  from  the  sudd.  The  land  on  either 
side  is  flat  and  uninteresting,  a  few  villages  of  the  Shiluk 
tribe — from  which  some  of  the  finest  fighting  material  in 
the  Soudanese  regiments  is  drawn — forming  the  only 
break  in  the  monotony  till  the  mission  of  the  Austrian 
Fathers  is  reached.  Kodok,  famous  under  its  former  name 
of  Fashoda,  we  reached  after  dark,  and  from  which,  after 
a  halt  of  a  couple  of  hours  we  steamed  in  the  peaceful 
light  of  a  starlit  sky.  Two  days  were  passed  during  which 
we  met  occasional  nuggars,  their  sails  and  rigging  reflected 
with  wonderful  clearness  in  the  calm  river,  and  we  reached 
Costi  at  about  midday  on  the  7th.  Here  the  Nile  is 
crossed  by  the  magnificent  new  bridge  that  carries  the 
railway  from  Khartoum  into  Kordofan.  After  tapping  this 
province,  with  its  rich  gum-producing  forests,  the  line  will 
eventually  reach  Darfur,  one  of  the  wildest  and  least  known 
areas  of  Northern  Africa.  The  bridge  consists  of  nine 
spans — eight  of  one  hundred  and  twenty  feet,  the  ninth 
(the  centre  span  which  revolves  to  allow  the  larger  craft 
to  pass)  being  two  hundred.  All  along  the  river  banks 
we  saw  native  boats  being  laden  with  the  produce  of  the 
country,  and  realised  that  a  tremendous  future  lies  before 
this  fertile  land  so  suited  for  the  cultivation  of  cotton, 
gum,  grain,  and  many  other  valuable  products. 

On  the  9th  of  January,  at  3  A.M.,  after  a  most  comfort- 
able journey  through  what  a  dozen  years  previously  had 
been  one  of  the  "  darkest "  stretches  of  the  continent,  we 
turned  up  the  Blue  Nile  and  moored  alongside  the  river 
bank  at  Khartoum.  The  trip  had  been,  thanks  largely  to 
Mr.  Archer,  the  engineer  in  charge,  his  management  and 


266    THROUGH  THE  HEART  OF  AFRICA 


his  catering,  a  most  comfortable  one.  The  only  excite- 
ment was  caused  by  the  things  and  passengers  that  fell 
overboard.  The  first  had  been  the  Indian  cook's  infant 
brother — he  could  swim  like  a  fish.  The  second  was  a 
sheep,  which  was  nobly  rescued  by  one  of  the  crew  just 
as  it  was  sinking — to  be  our  dinner  the  following  day. 
The  third  was  a  native  passenger  who  slipped  off  just  as 
we  rounded  the  corner  into  the  Blue  Nile,  and,  in  spite  of 
the  prompt  measures  that  were  always  taken  on  such 
occasions,  was  never  seen  again. 

At  Khartoum  we  were  once  more  among  friends.  The 
Governor  of  Omdurman,  Mr.  Moore,  had  been  contem- 
porary with  one  of  us  (Melland)  at  Oxford,  while  his  chief 
assistant,  Mr.  Arthur  Asquith,  was  a  relative  of  the  same. 
Mr.  Harold  Hall,  the  manager  of  the  Soudan  Development 
Company,  we  knew  of  as  a  brother  of  a  colleague  of  ours, 
and  yet  another  friend  and  former  pupil  was  found  later 
on  in  the  King's  Own  Scottish  Borderers, 

The  river  at  Khartoum  is  like  an  inverted  Y,  the  tail 
of  the  letter  pointing  north,  the  eastern  branch  being  the 
Blue  Nile  (Azrak),  on  the  south  bank  of  which  lies  Khar- 
toum, and  on  the  other,  connected  by  the  railway  bridge 
and  a  ferry,  is  Khartoum  North.  The  western  branch 
is  the  White  Nile  (Abiad),  and  on  the  left  bank  of  the 
united  river,  just  below  the  junction,  lies  Omdurman,  con- 
nected with  Khartoum  by  a  steam  ferry-boat  service. 

After  the  battle  of  Omdurman  and  the  downfall  of  the 
Khalifa's  power  in  1898  an  effort  was  made  to  abolish 
this  settlement  and  to  unite  the  whole  population  at  Khar- 
toum, but  prejudice  was  too  strong,  and  Omdurman  still 
remains  the  centre  of  the  native  population,  both  perma- 
nent and  transitory.  It  is  an  enormous  mud  city,  with 
approximately  45,000  inhabitants,  partly  composed  of 
Arabs  and  Berberines,  partly  of  almost  every  tribe  in  Africa 
north  of  the  Equator,  besides  generally  including  many 
pilgrims  to  Mecca.  Among  those  at  the  time  of  our  visit 
were  3000  Hausa  from  Nigeria. 

The  shipping  firms  and  construction  workships  are  in 
Khartoum  North  on  the  opposite  bank  of  the  river,  while 


DiNKA  WOMAN   MAKING  .MATS. 


THE  SOUDAN 


267 


Khartoum  itself  contains  the  palace  standing  in  its  beautiful 
gardens,  all  the  residences  of  the  official  and  civil  popu- 
lation, the  Government  offices,  the  Gordon  College, 
barracks,  cathedral,  mosque,  commercial  houses,  and 
hotel. 

There  is  only  one  hotel,  "  The  Grand,"  and  there  we 
took  up  our  quarters.  It  is  a  pretentious  and  roomy 
building  on  the  embankment.  Dinner  is  served  in  an 
electrically  lighted  garden  ;  lunch  and  breakfast  are  equally 
good,  and  second  helpings  can  be  obtained  on  extra  pay- 
ment. No  objection  is  raised  to  their  own  servants 
attending  to  visitors'  modest  requirements  when  the  hotel 
staff  is  otherwise  engaged.  For  three  meals  and  a  bedroom 
a  charge  of  twenty-four  shillings  a  day  and  upwards  is 
made. 

A  telephone  message  from  Mr.  Asquith  invited  us  to 
Omdurman  for  lunch,  and  crossing  in  Mr.  Hall's  convenient 
little  launch,  we  found  our  host  and  his  sister  in  a  com- 
fortable mud-house  which  had  formerly  been  the  mess  of 
one  of  the  Soudanese  regiments.  He  had  migrated  thither 
during  his  sister's  visit,  as  the  Khalifa's  old  palace  in  which 
he  had  been  living  was  hardly  adequate  to  the  accommo- 
dation of  a  lady.  After  lunch  we  visited  this  interesting  relic 
of  the  Dervishdominion  which  had  been  his  former  quarters, 
and  were  taken  all  over  it,  noting  with  interest  the  various 
semi-civilised  contrivances,  including  a  fine  bath  with 
which  the  Khalifa  had,  with  the  aid  of  European  prisoners, 
fitted  his  residence.  From  the  topmost  turret  a  clear  view 
is  obtained  of  the  half-demolished  Mahdi's  tomb,  which 
was  shelled  at  the  battle  of  Omdurman,  and  which,  in  the 
opinion  of  many,  should  have  been  levelled  to  the  ground. 

All  round  us  lay  spread  the  city  of  Omdurman,  with  the 
Kereri  hills  (at  which  the  battle  of  Omdurman  was  fought) 
eight  miles  north-west,  and  beyond — the  desert.  Omdur- 
man straggles  about  six  miles  along  the  riverside — three 
miles  each  side  of  the  Khalifa's  house — and  two  or  three 
miles  inland.  There  are  a  few  stone  houses,  some 
finished  and  some  not ;  the  remainder  are  built  of  mono- 
tonous brown  mud — some  of  it  dignified  by  the  name  of 


268    THROUGH  THE   HEART  OF  AFRICA 


"  sun-dried  bricks,"  It  consists  of  a  variety  of  streets, 
parallel  and  at  right  angles,  and  of  buildings  that  are, 
doubtless,  of  a  variety  of  sizes,  though  from  a  distance  it  is 
a  brown  sea  of  mud  dwellings  all  about  the  same  size  and 
shape ;  flat-roofed,  verandahless  and  shadeless,  separated 
by  streets  and  alleys  of  baking  sand,  and  backed  by  the 
baking  desert.  Except  here  and  there  near  the  water's 
edge,  not  a  leaf  or  a  blade  of  grass  is  to  be  seen.  The 
palace  stands  at  the  corner  of  a  huge  square  enclosed  by 
a  seven  or  eight  foot  wall  of  stone.  A  second  wall,  of 
which  only  parts  now  remained,  enclosing  a  much  larger 
space,  originally  contained  the  residences  of  the  Khalifa's 
particular  followers.  Most  of  the  buildings  occupied  by 
them,  originally  covering  some  acres  between  the  palace 
and  the  river  bank,  are  now  mere  heaps  of  sand  and  clay 
and  broken  mud  walls,  the  unpopularity  of  the  original 
residents  being  so  great  that  none  will  build  or  live  upon 
the  site. 

After  leaving  the  palace  we  visited  the  native  market, 
which  is  one  of  the  largest  congregations  of  buyers  and 
sellers  in  Northern  Africa — a  maze  of  crowded  burrows, 
some  ten  feet  broad,  between  rows  of  tiny  booths  in 
which  all  manner  of  native  work — carpets,  brass  ware, 
pottery,  food,  scents,  soap,  cloth  and  wearing  apparel — was 
being  sold  by  Greeks,  Syrians,  Armenians,  Cretans,  Arabs, 
and  natives.  The  roofs  over  the  shops  and  alleys  were  in 
an  indescribable  state  of  disrepair,  though  the  booths 
themselves  were  clean  and  well  arranged.  The  whole 
formed  a  picture  as  typically  "  Eastern  "  as  could  be  ima- 
gined, and  emphasised,  more  than  anything  else  we  had 
seen,  the  fact  that  we  had  left  negro  Africa  behind  and 
had  emerged  into  the  northern  part  of  the  continent,  which 
seems  to  have  been  so  cut  off  from  the  centre  and  the 
south  as  to  form  a  different  land. 

The  two  most  interesting  types  were  the  makers  of 
fringes  on  cotton  cloths,  and  the  bead  turners.  The 
former  were  tiny  urchins  who  worked  at  a  primitive  loom 
with  tremendous  rapidity,  their  feet  in  a  pit,  supported  by 
a  rail  against  their  stomachs.    The  latter  used  a  lathe  that 


White  Nile  Bridge,  the  centre  span  swinging. 


THE  SOUDAN 


269 


was  equally  primitive,  on  which  they  fashioned  wooden 
beads,  turning  out,  so  they  told  our  host,  a  string  and  a 
half  a  day.  One  worker  told  us  that  he  cleared  a  profit 
of  about  40  per  cent.,  but  the  outlay  was  so  small  the 
gain  cannot  have  been  more  than  a  few  milliemes  a  day. 

Our  own  purchases  were  confined  to  a  few  ostrich 
feathers  at  4s.  each — the  Omdurman  market  is  famous  for 
these,  and  the  presence  of  our  host  and  hostess  prevented 
us  from  buying  inferior  feathers  at  ridiculous  prices — and 
a  couple  of  pairs  of  red  morocco  leather  shoes  of  the  local 
boat-shaped  pattern.  In  spite  of  the  courteous  and  ready 
manner  in  which  the  merchants  and  salesmen  gratified 
our  curiosity  on  any  matter  which  excited  our  interest,  it 
was  difficult  to  carry  away  more  than  a  confused  memory 
of  the  bewildering  variety  in  each  alley- way  of  this  warren 
of  buyers  and  sellers,  hawkers  and  their  wares. 

A  closer  inspection  of  the  town  itself  was  postponed 
to  another  day,  and  at  sunset  we  re-crossed  the  river  to 
Khartoum. 

The  following  morning  was  spent  quietly  in  visiting 
the  sights  of  Khartoum,  notably  the  lifelike  statue  of  General 
Gordon  in  the  main  street,  the  nearly  completed  cathedral, 
the  War  Office,  Law  Courts,  and  the  Sirdar's  palace,  where 
we  had  a  stroll  in  the  beautiful  gardens,  which  were  par- 
ticularly refreshing  after  the  glaring  dust  of  the  streets. 

The  next  day  was  rather  more  strenuous.  We  rose 
early  and  caught  the  7.30  tram  to  the  ferry,  reaching 
Omdurman  in  time  for  breakfast  with  Mr.  and  Miss 
Asquith,  after  which  we  went  to  visit  Mr.  Moore  at  his 
office,  and  chatted  over  old  times.  Then,  armed  with 
letters  of  introduction  from  our  host,  we  proceeded  to  pay 
a  visit  to  the  Omdurman  Primary  School. 

The  headmaster  is  an  enthusiast.  He  was  obviously 
delighted  at  having  an  opportunity  of  showing  us  the 
establishment,  and  we  spent  something  like  an  hour  and  a 
half  being  treated  to  a  thorough  inspection  and  examina- 
tion of  each  class,  and  of  almost  every  pupil  in  it.  It 
was  all  very  interesting,  the  tiny  nippers  learning  "  the 
three  R's  "  being  especially  attractive,  while  the  admirable 


270    THROUGH   THE  HEART  OF  AFRICA 


discipline  and  keenness  throughout  was  not  the  least  striking 
feature  of  the  entertainment.  We  felt  a  little  sorry  for 
the  ushers  who  were  teaching  English,  for  they  had  to 
expose  the  weak  points  in  their  knowledge  of  the  language. 
All  these  teachers  were  Egyptian,  and  the  pupils  were  of 
every  shade  from  black  to  nearly  white. 

With  only  twenty-five  minutes  to  spare  after  our  tour 
of  the  school,  we  had  to  abandon  the  idea  of  visiting 
both  the  hospital  and  the  survey  office,  and  decided  in 
favour  of  the  former.  The  Egyptian  doctor  in  charge 
received  us  with  an  eagerness  that  equalled  that  of  the 
headmaster.  He  took  us  into  every  corner  of  the  estab- 
lishment and  explained  with  great  thoroughness  every 
case  of  any  interest  or  importance. 

The  hospital  was  of  mud,  the  various  wards  being 
similar  in  style  and  construction  to  the  native  houses. 
This,  it  was  explained,  had  been  found  advisable,  even 
though  funds  might  be  available  for  a  more  pretentious 
building,  as  not  only  were  the  natives  unable  to  appreciate 
the  luxuries  of  better  appointed  quarters,  but  positively 
preferred  and  had  more  confidence  in  an  establishment 
that  gave  them  accommodation  more  or  less  of  the  same 
style  as  exists  in  their  own  homes.  Though  crudely  con- 
structed the  hospital  was  scrupulously  clean,  excellently 
managed,  and  apparently  well  equipped. 

We  had  to  hurry  away  so  as  to  catch  the  12.30  ferry 
to  Khartoum,  for  we  had  a  good  deal  to  do  after  lunch. 

The  rest  of  the  day  was  spent  in  a  little  photographic 
business,  a  visit  to  the  gymkhana  of  the  ist  King's  Own 
Scottish  Borderers  and  dinner  at  their  mess,  at  the  invita- 
tion of  one  of  the  officers,  who  turned  out  to  be  an  old 
pupil. 

January  12th  was  our  last  day  at  Khartoum.  Though 
sufficiently  impressive  as  a  testimony  to  the  conquest  of 
the  Soudan,  the  town  can  hardly  be  called  either  particu- 
larly beautiful  or  particularly  attractive. 

The  metamorphosis  that  has  taken  place  during  the  last 
ten  years  is  striking  enough.  Trees  are  already  giving  or 
promising  grateful  shade  where  all  was  once  the  glaring 


THE  SOUDAN 


271 


sunstruck  sand.  Some  of  the  buildings  would  be  no  dis- 
credit to  Whitehall,  but  it  is — and  must  always  remain — 
that  uncomfortable  conglomerate,  a  painful  hybrid  'twixt 
the  East  and  West.  The  Gordon  College,  which  we  visited 
after  obtaining  permits  from  the  Civil  Secretary  for  the 
export  of  our  guns,  may  be  described  as  the  finest  monument 
of  the  British  occupation  of  the  country.  Carrying  with 
us  a  letter  to  Mr.  Simpson,  the  Assistant  Director,  we  were 
first  introduced  to  Dr.  Andrew  Balfour  in  the  magnificent 
Wellcome  Research  Laboratory,  in  which  he  takes  such 
pardonable  pride. 

Everything  of  importance  was  shown  and  explained, 
and,  interested  as  we  were  in  tropical  diseases,  their  causes, 
their  symptoms,  and  their  cure,  we  were  particularly  grate- 
ful to  him  and  his  staff  for  giving  us  the  opportunity  of 
learning  something  of  the  resources  and  achievements  of 
so  well  equipped  and  efficient  an  institution  of  tropical 
medical  research. 

We  next  visited  the  Museum,  and  then  were  placed  in 
the  hands  of  one  Artiah  Effendi,  an  Egyptian  member  of 
the  college  staff,  who  proved  a  capable  and  lucid  cicerone 
as  he  piloted  us  round  the  educational  parts  of  the  college, 
and  concluded  with  a  visit  to  the  workshops,  where  young 
Soudan  is  learning  various  simple  handicrafts  and  the  practi- 
cal uses  of  machinery  for  the  advancement  of  his  country. 

The  work  is  not  altogether  unprofitable,  for  the  pupils 
in  one  section  were  busy  pressing  and  baling  cotton  for 
export,  while  in  others  they  were  engaged  in  making  useful 
articles  such  as  doors  and  window  frames.  Any  one 
interested  in  the  practical  work  that  is  being  done  in  this 
institution  should  read  the  annual  reports  or  some  of  the 
articles  that  have  been  written  on  the  subject.^  Lord 
Kitchener  could  not  have  thought  of  a  finer  or  more 
suitable  memorial  to  the  great  Englishman  whose  name 
will  always  be  associated  with  Khartoum,  and  the  Soudan 
owes  him  a  debt  of  gratitude  for  the  conception  as  well  as 
the  successful  execution  of  his  idea. 

1  For  instance,  Mr.  Hamilton  Fyfe's  article,  entitled  "  Educating  the 
Sudanese,"  in  the  NatioTial  Review  for  October  19 10. 


272    THROUGH  THE   HEART  OF  AFRICA 


After  dinner  we  drove  to  the  station  and  boarded  the 
ten  o'clock  train  for  the  north.  The  rolling-stock  is  built 
on  the  same  pattern  as  the  Indian  railways,  with  mosquito 
screens  and  sun-hoods,  and  but  for  the  constant  head- 
bumping  that  the  inexperienced  traveller  suffers  from  the 
latter,  are  comparatively  comfortable. 

At  half-past  five  we  awoke  to  find  ourselves  at  Atbara, 
and  at  eleven  reached  Abu  Hamed.  Here  the  railway 
leaves  the  river  and  plunges  into  the  Nubian  Desert. 

It  is  an  awful  thing  merely  to  look  at.  The  last  sign 
of  life  is  quickly  left  behind,  and  for  miles  and  miles  there 
opens  out  on  either  side  a  waste  of  hot  nothingness 
glaring  into  infinity. 

At  midday  the  mirages  between  the  track  and  a  ridge 
of  rocks  to  the  east  were  so  perfect  an  illusion  that  it  was 
almost  impossible  to  believe  that  there  really  was  not  a 
clear  sheet  of  water  something  less  than  a  mile  away. 

But  these  mocking  phenomena  hardly  compensate  for 
the  vacant  dreariness  of  a  tract  in  which  even  the  railway 
sidings  are  known  by  numbers  instead  of  names,  and  sun- 
set was  greeted  with  a  sigh  of  relief. 

At  a  quarter  to  ten  we  ran  into  Wady  Haifa,  the 
border  station  of  the  Soudan  and  Egypt  and  the  terminus 
of  the  Soudan  Government  railways.  The  next  stage 
was  by  river  to  Shellal  ;  and  the  mail-boat  Soudan  was 
alongside  and  awaiting  the  embarkation  of  her  passengers 
from  the  train. 

The  train  had  been  divided  into  two,  one  part  pre- 
ceding us,  as  we  thought,  to  Haifa.  We  were  therefore 
rather  alarmed  to  find  on  arrival  that  this  half,  in  which 
the  boy  Kasonde  was  ensconced,  had  not  arrived.  The 
alarm  was  a  false  one,  however  ;  the  missing  portion  had 
after  all  been  awaiting  us,  and  appeared  in  due  course. 

We  were  scheduled  to  leave  the  same  night,  but  owing 
to  the  vagaries  of  certain  sandbanks  down  stream  our 
departure  was  postponed  till  dawn. 


XVIII 


EGYPT 

Down  the  Nile  to  Shellal — Philre  and  the  Dam — Asswin — Luxor — The 
temples  of  Thebes  and  the  tombs  of  the  kings — Kamak  and 
Luxor  temples — Abydos — Cairo — Tura — The  Pyramids  in  sleet — 
Port  Said  —  End  of  our  journey — Retrospect  —  Notes  on  clothes, 
rifles,  cameras. 

The  Soudan,  a  stern-wheeler  several  sizes  larger  than 
the  Gordon  Pasha,  and  proportionally  more  splendid, 
seemed  the  last  word  in  luxurious  travelling.  She  had 
three  decks,  several  excellent  single-berth  cabins,  saloon, 
promenade,  and  smoking-room,  and  a  delightful  lounge 
for'ard  enclosed  on  three  sides  with  sliding  glass  doors, 
giving  a  shelter  from  the  keen  north  wind. 

We  sailed  at  dawn,  and  at  eight  passed  close  to  the 
first  relic  of  ancient  Egypt  that  we  were  to  see,  the  temple 
of  Abu  Simbel,  hollowed  from  the  cliffs  of  rock  on  the 
Nile's  right  bank.  Nothing  of  course  was  visible  to  us 
but  the  doorway  and  the  sixty-five  foot  Colossi  on  either 
side.  Though  reckoned  one  of  Egypt's  finest  temples,  we 
had,  as  yet,  seen  none  of  them,  and  in  spite  of  feeling  a 
Httle  tantalised,  we  had  no  idea  of  what  we  had  missed. 
The  scenery  for  miles  was  grandly  rugged,  the  sandstone 
ranges  bordering  the  banks  now  and  again  broken  by 
patches  of  fertile  and  occupied  land,  and  here  and  there 
on  either  side  an  ancient  temple  standing  sentinel  over 
the  buried  past. 

Our  passage  was  to  be  but  a  hurried  one.  We  could 
scarcely  hope  for  more  than  a  fleeting  impression  of 
Egypt's  varied  treasures,  and  each  hour  that  passed 
brought  with  it  the  suspicion  that  we  might  feel  quite  dis- 
satisfied with  ourselves  for  not  making  a  long  stay. 

We  reached  Shellal  between  three  and  four  in  the 

273  s 


274    THROUGH  THE  HEART  OF  AFRICA 

morning.  As  the  train  which  was  to  take  us  on  our  next 
stage  to  Luxor  and  Cairo  did  not  start  till  after  ten  o'clock, 
we  seized  the  chance  of  a  hurried  visit  to  the  temple  of 
Philae,  within  a  hundred  yards  of  which  the  boat  had  come 
to  anchor,  and  the  Asswan  dam.  Philae,  as  all  the  world 
knows,  is  one  of  the  minor  gems  of  ancient  Egyptian  archi- 
tecture, and  will  soon,  in  all  probability,  be  no  more  visible 
to  the  tourist.  Standing  as  it  does  but  a  mile  or  so  above 
the  dam,  and  being  even  now  at  high-water  partially  sub- 
merged, the  raising  of  the  dam  will,  sooner  or  later, 
mean  its  end. 

In  January — as  yet — it  is  high  and  dry,  and  despite 
the  prohibitive  efforts  of  a  hoary  native  custodian  whom 
we  failed  to  convince  of  the  retrospective  properties  of 
"  antiquity-tickets  "  to  be  obtained  the  following  day,  we 
saw  most  of  it,  and  probably  were  more  impressed  than 
those  who,  coming  from  the  north,  have  already  seen  the 
finer  and  older  specimens  of  Egyptian  architecture.  Its 
preservation  and  its  unique  position — occupying  an  iso- 
lated islet  in  a  miniature  bay — tempts  one  to  think  hard 
things  of  the  Asswan  dam,  but,  after  all,  the  fertility  and 
prosperity  of  Upper  Egypt  are  of  some  consequence 
compared  with  the  saving  of  a  single  relic  of  the  past. 

The  dam  itself  we  had  no  time  to  more  than  skirt, 
and  we  could  not  have  gone  along  it,  in  any  case,  owing 
to  the  construction  work  in  progress,  but  the  view  we 
had  was  enough  to  leave  the  impression  that  while  for  the 
magnitude  of  its  conception  it  is  worthy  to  rank  with 
any  of  Egypt's  ancient  monuments,  for  its  utility  it  stands 
in  a  class  of  its  own. 

Our  train  left  a  few  minutes  before  eleven,  and  after 
a  brief  halt  at  Asswan,  continued  its  journey  with  but  short 
stoppages  to  Luxor. 

It  was  dusty  travelling,  though  pleasantly  cool.  The 
railway  here  runs  close  to  the  river  again — between  it  and 
the  desert — and  the  contrast  between  the  two  sides  of  the 
line  is  as  marked  as  it  could  be.  On  the  right  the  desolate 
desert  broken  by  shaly  shingle  foothills  and  a  barren 
and  stony  escarpment  that  seemed  to  mark  the  flood- 


EGYPT 


275 


river  banks  ;  on  the  left  a  strip  of  cultivated  land  between 
the  railway  and  the  river,  green  and  gold  with  crops,  some 
sprouting  and  some  ripening,  and  gradually  becoming 
broader  as  we  moved  along.  But  the  journey  was,  on 
the  whole,  lacking  in  interest ;  the  narrow  gauge  line  is 
not  conspicuously  comfortable,  and  we  were  glad  when 
just  before  sunset  we  caught  our  first  glimpse  of  the 
temples  of  ancient  Thebes  in  the  west  and  presently 
drew  up  at  Luxor  station. 

Though  our  time  was  short  we  had  no  intention  of 
merely  passing  by  all  the  gigantic  glories  of  the  past,  and 
had  decided  to  break  our  journey  and  see  what  we  could 
in  two  or  three  days. 

Luxor  has  a  choice  of  hotels,  and,  ignoring  the  jibes 
of  certain  of  our  friends  at  our  reckless  sybaritism,  we 
chose  the  Winter  Palace.  Its  uniformed  myrmidons  could 
barely  hide  their  scorn  at  our  travel-stained  and  battered 
baggage,  wondering  no  doubt  what  manner  of  vagabonds 
they  were  who  had  the  nerve  to  enlist  their  services  to 
handle  and  transport  such  dubious-looking  articles.  But 
they  made  no  audible  comment,  and  leaving  them  in  their 
care  we  contrived  to  assume  a  creditable  amount  of  self- 
assurance  and  walked  to  the  hotel.  When  we  reached 
it,  with  its  enormous  gleaming  white  front,  its  broad 
terrace  approached  by  a  double  flight  of  steps,  all  in  a 
soft  blaze  of  electric  light,  bougainvillaea,  and  pointsettia, 
we  really  wondered  for  a  moment  whether  our  assurance 
was  equal  to  it.  Luxury  for  ourselves  did  not  perhaps 
appal — coming  from  the  wilds  we  rather  hankered  after 
it — but  for  the  pagan  with  us — where  on  earth  in  this 
brilliant  mansion  could  a  home  be  found  for  a  Mid-African 
mud-hut  dweller  ? 

Our  fears  proved  groundless.  Equally  suitable  ac- 
commodation was  forthcoming  for  all  of  us,  white  and 
black,  in  contrast  to  our  experience  at  Khartoum  ;  and  it 
only  remains  to  say  that  in  every  possible  respect — atten- 
tion,civility,  cuisine,  and  comfort — our  sojourn  in  the  Winter 
Palace  Hotel  left  nothing  to  be  desired.  A  quite  excep- 
tional string  band,  which  played  before  and  after  dinner, 


276    THROUGH  THE  HEART  OF  AFRICA 

reminded  us  with  a  thrill  that  we  had  not  heard  any 
orchestral  music  for  four  and  five  years  respectively. 

Securing  antiquity-tickets  and  the  services  of  an  in- 
telligent dragoman,  who  was  to  show  us  what  he  could  of 
the  cream  of  things  in  two  days  and  a  bit,  we  started  off 
at  nine  next  morning  across  the  river  to  the  city  of 
Thebes.  Our  experience  of  the  Soudan  donkey-saddle 
had  led  us,  in  our  ignorance  of  the  different  type  in 
use  in  Egypt,  to  adopt  some  other  means  of  transport, 
and  we  engaged  for  the  first  day  a  two-wheeled  trap  with 
broad  flat  tyres  and  drawn  by  a  mule — known  as  a 
"  sand-car " — which  was  awaiting  us  on  the  other  side. 
Shamandi  Ahmed,  our  dragoman,  followed  on  a  donkey, 
and  Kasonde,  to  be  shown  what  he  might  see  of  man's 
ancient  handiwork,  on  foot. 

Passing  the  Colossi  of  Memnon  seated  in  solitary 
grandeur  in  the  midst  of  a  beautiful  broad  plain,  green 
with  waving  wheat,  we  proceeded  to  spend  our  first  day 
among  the  temples  and  the  tombs  of  the  queens. 

Of  the  former  we  visited  all  but  Der-el-Bahri ;  of  the 
latter  Shamandi  took  us  to  what  he  considered  the  two 
best,  as  well  as  to  the  Gardener's  and  another  tomb. 

Needless  to  say,  we  shall  not  attempt  in  these  pages 
a  description  of  things  that  are  already  so  well  known  to 
the  travelling  world,  and  have  been  described  again  and 
again  by  a  hundred  expert  pens.  In  our  innocence  we 
thought  that  perhaps  a  day  or  two  would  give  us  a  surfeit 
of  mouldering  antiquities  and  massive  blocks  of  stone,  but 
each  step  served  but  to  whet  the  appetite  and  make  keener 
our  regret  that  our  stay  must  be  so  short. 

The  exquisite  bas-reliefs,  of  which  the  weathering  of 
four  thousand  years  had  hardly  dulled  the  edge,  the 
crowded  hieroglyphic  records  that  one  aches  to  know  and 
read,  the  stupendous  egoism  personified  in  the  gigantic 
statues  of  the  kings,  the  baffling  problem  of  how  and  why 
these  pagans  learnt  to  rear  their  mountains  of  perennial 
masonry  to  shelter  and  to  satisfy  their  cult — these  are 
things  that  must  arrest  and  stupefy  the  most  apathetic  and 
perfunctory  sightseer. 


EGYPT  277 

Out  of  a  multitude  of  wonders  the  fallen  and  shattered 
statue  of  Rameses  II.  in  the  Ramesseum,  owing  to  its 
stupendous  grandeur  and  the  marvel  of  its  transport  from 
Asswan  and  of  its  destruction  by  Cambyses,  and  the  dark- 
blue  star-spangled  sky  in  the  ceiling  of  Queen  Nefertari's 
tomb,  owing  to  the  perfection  of  its  colouring,  were  perhaps 
the  hardest  to  forget. 

Shamandi,  besides  his  varied  if  somewhat  superficial 
knowledge  of  the  different  objects  most  worthy  of  attention, 
took  a  keen  interest  in  our  photographic  ambitions,  and 
was  full  of  useful  hints  as  to  the  light  and  position  that 
would  be  best  for  the  various  objects  ;  and  on  our  return 
he  surprised  us  by  suggesting  that  we  should  curtail  our 
stay  at  Luxor  by  a  day  and  devote  the  third  day  to  a 
visit  to  Dendra  or  Abydos,  or  both.  He  was  evidently  an 
enthusiast,  and,  realising  that  we  were  not  so  unappreci- 
ative  after  all,  he  did  not  want  us  to  miss  even  the  treat 
that  he  generally  kept  in  reserve.  It  meant  a  hard  day 
for  Tuesday,  but  he  had  inspired  us  with  confidence,  and 
we  decided  we  should  gain  more  than  we  should  miss  by 
carrying  out  his  suggestion. 

The  next  morning,  therefore,  we  started  at  sunrise  with 
the  intention  of  "finishing"  the  other  side  of  the  river  in 
the  morning  and  seeing  Karnak  and  Luxor  in  the  afternoon. 

A  couple  of  excellent  donkeys  besides  Shamandi's 
own  were  awaiting  us  on  the  farther  bank,  and  before 
eight  o'clock  we  were  cantering  across  the  plain  towards 
the  foot  of  the  hills  that  hide  the  tombs  of  the  kings. 

Some  declare  that  to  gain  the  most  vivid  impression 
of  the  gaunt  desolation  of  the  approach  to  the  tombs, 
the  visit  should  be  made  at  noon  on  a  hot  and  cloudless 
day,  but  the  ride  along  that  pass  in  the  cool  of  a  glorious 
morning  is  sufficiently  impressive. 

The  hills  tower  on  either  side  of  the  road,  amidst 
gleaming  and  glaring  red  and  yellow  masses  of  forbidding 
rock  and  sand  showing  no  single  sign  of  life — not  a  leaf 
nor  a  stalk  of  vegetation,  not  even  a  solitary  lizard  bask- 
ing in  the  sun.  It  is,  in  fact,  an  ideal  place  in  which  to 
be  dead. 


278    THROUGH  THE  HEART  OF  AFRICA 

On  winds  the  road,  trodden  by  countless  funeral 
corteges  of  old,  till  rounding  a  corner  one  reaches  the 
mighty  cul-de-sac,  hidden  away  in  the  corners  of  which 
are  the  burial-places  of  kings.  Only  when  the  entrances 
of  the  tombs  are  seen  does  one  fully  realise  to  what 
extent  seclusion  and  concealment  were  the  object  of  the 
choice.  No  purpose  here  of  gratifying  the  eye  of  inquisi- 
tive posterity  or  of  leaving  a  monument  of  art  or  labour 
for  all  time.  Proving  by  their  very  exclusiveness  their 
belief  in  the  after-life,  these  old  barbarians  were  so  intent 
on  preserving  the  privacy  of  the  dead  that  the  craftsmen 
and  artists  of  the  tombs  were  summarily  executed  on 
completion  of  their  tasks  lest  they  divulged  to  others  the 
place  where  their  bodies  and  their  treasures  had  been 
entombed. 

The  tombs  themselves  are  gems  in  an  appropriate 
setting :  appropriate  from  its  very  contrast.  Gallery  after 
gallery  with  their  colours  undimmed  by  the  ages  that  have 
passed,  panel  after  panel  of  minute  and  close-writ  hiero- 
glyphics telling  the  history  and  the  virtues  of  the  dead, 
shelf  after  shelf  that  once  bore  the  lurid  mummy-cases  of 
the  embalmed  remains  of  those  who  dumbly  waited  for 
the  after-life,  and,  crowning  all,  the  tremendous  labour  of 
excavation  in  the  solid  rock. 

One  sarcophagus,  and  one  only,  still  rests  undisturbed 
— that  of  Amenhotep — and  it  is  with  a  feeling  that  it  is 
something  akin  to  sacrilege,  as  the  light  is  switched  on 
and  floods  a  chamber  whose  existence  had  been  almost 
unsuspected,  that  the  visitor  gazes  through  the  glass  cover 
on  the  features  of  one  who  has  been  dead  three  thousand 
years.  No  photograph,  lacking  colour,  could,  even  were 
there  light  within,  give  an  adequate  idea  of  the  mural  de- 
corations of  the  tombs  ;  and  an  additional  regret  is  felt 
when  one  learns  that  in  all  probability  the  exposure  to 
the  air  will  sooner  or  later  make  them  grow  dim  and  fade. 

We  felt,  as  we  had  before,  that  each  tomb  wanted 
days  or  even  weeks  to  see  it,  with  perhaps  just  one  en- 
thusiastic and  reverent  antiquary  at  one's  side  ready  to 
answer  every  question  that  one  wanted  to  ask,  and  keep 


EGYPT 


279 


silent  when  one  wished  to  ask  no  more.  Our  early  visit 
had  one  charm  to  recommend  it — we  were  the  only 
visitors  at  that  hour,  but  even  our  dragoman  and  an 
apathetic  custodian  or  two  tended  to  spoil  the  effect.  In 
such  places,  when  sympathy  is  lacking,  one  wants  to  be 
alone. 

On  leaving  the  last  of  the  four  tombs  which  we  visited, 
we  took  another  way  back  across  the  hills.  Climbing  a 
steep  and  stony  path  winding  up  the  side  of  the  eastern 
slope,  and  peering  over  the  edge  of  a  precipice  near  the 
brink  of  which  our  way  had  led,  we  found  ourselves  look- 
ing back  into  the  barren  depths  whence  we  had  come. 
The  change  of  route  is  well  worth  the  climb.  A  little 
more  scrambling,  climbing,  and  ascending,  and  an  inimit- 
able panorama  greets  the  eye.  The  Nile,  with  Karnak 
and  Luxor  on  the  farther  side,  and  in  the  middle-ground, 
on  the  edge  of  the  vivid  green  plain,  the  Ramesseum^ 
the  Colossi,  the  Roman  remains,  and  at  one's  feet  the 
temple  of  Der-el-Bahri.  The  latter,  with  the  tomb  of 
Queen  Hatishu,  was  once  completely  buried  by  the  falling 
debris  of  the  cliff  at  whose  base  it  stands.  Excavated 
and  partially  restored,  though  a  building  of  plain  design, 
it  gives  a  glimpse  of  what  Egypt  in  her  glory  may  have 
been. 

After  a  brief  rest  we  hastened  back  across  the  river 
and  rode  out  to  Karnak,  that  wonderful  mass  of  ruins 
where  amidst  the  wreck  so  much  has  withstood  the 
ravages  of  spoilers  and  of  time.  The  pylon,  the  obelisks 
— standing  and  fallen — the  sacred  lake  with  the  new- 
found granite  scarab  at  its  edge,  and,  grandest  of  all,  the 
mighty  hypostyle  hall  which  every  visitor  should  worship 
by  the  light  of  the  full  moon.  Then,  on  our  return  to 
Luxor  temple,  where,  after  a  first  feeling  of  impatience 
at  the  modern  buildings  crowding  on  two  sides,  and  of 
disgust  at  the  crude  Coptic  church  in  its  very  midst,  we 
drew  comfort  from  the  glories  of  its  colonnade  and  the 
cynicism  of  the  yet  another  statue  of  Rameses  with  the 
figure  of  his  wife  en  miniature  half-hidden  behind  the  calf 
of  his  colossal  leg. 


28o    THROUGH  THE  HEART  OF  AFRICA 


Weary  but  not  sated  we  returned  to  our  hotel  to  find 
a  bathetic  if  suitable  antidote  in  preparation  in  the  shape 
of  an  impromptu  dance. 

Half-past  five  the  next  morning  found  us  once  more 
on  the  move,  and,  swallowing  a  hurried  breakfast,  we 
caught  the  7.20  train  to  Baliana  for  the  temple  of  Abydos : 
for  the  railway  service  did  not  admit  of  a  visit  to  Dendra 
in  the  same  day.  In  a  little  more  than  four  hours,  one  of 
which  was  spent  driving  over  a  flat  and  wind-swept  plain, 
we  reached  the  village  of  Abydos  ;  and  leaving  our  Jehu 
struggling  vigorously  though  not  vainly  to  prevent  his 
steeds  backing  over  a  small  precipice  at  the  foot  of  the 
dusty  gangway  that  did  duty  for  one  of  the  main  streets, 
we  proceeded  to  a  leisurely  enjoyment  of  the  finest  ex- 
ample extant  of  the  Ramessean  period. 

If  only  for  its  better  preservation  it  has  established  its 
claim.  Within  are  covered  bas-reliefs  almost  as  vivid  as 
those  in  the  royal  tombs,  while  on  the  outer  weather- 
beaten  walls  the  paintings  still  give  a  hint  of  their  early 
splendour.  Massive  portions  of  the  flat  slab  roof  are  still 
in  their  place  with  their  wonderful  deep-blue  ceilings, 
and  the  exquisite  figures,  scenes,  and  symbols  covering 
the  limestone  walls  are  as  sharp  and  clear  as  the  day 
the  chisel  ceased  its  work.  In  parts  the  masonry  is 
blackened  for  several  feet  of  its  height,  stained  by  the 
accumulated  rubbish  of  generations  of  a  later  age.  Part 
has  been  used  as  a  Coptic  church,  of  which  little  but 
some  rough  red  frescoes  and  inscriptions  now  remain, 
while  here  and  there  obliterated  profiles  and  crude 
erasures  bear  witness  to  the  early  Christians'  mischievous 
intolerance  of  pagan  art. 

There  was  one  detail  in  the  scheme  of  decoration  that 
especially  caught  the  eye.  In  two  panels  representing  the 
heads  of  beasts  there  were  an  oryx  and  reedbuck  and  a 
reedbuck  and  sable  respectively.  There  was  no  mistaking 
the  last-named  beast  any  more  than  the  other  two,  and  in 
view  of  the  present  zoological  distribution,  it  would  be  inter- 
esting to  know  what  trace  there  is  of  a  sable  antelope  being 
found  in  the  latitudes  under  Egypt's  influence  or  sway. 


EGYPT 


281 


At  about  five  we  drove  back  to  Baliana  to  await  our 
train.  As  it  was  not  due  till  after  ten  o'clock  we  had 
about  four  hours  to  squander  somehow,  and  adopted 
Shamandi's  suggestion  that  we  should  hie  to  a  buffet  of 
which  he  knew,  and  at  which  he  said  we  could  obtain  a 
decent  meal.  We  found  his  buffet  in  an  hour's  time — a 
grubby  wine-shop  in  a  grubby  street  on  the  banks  of  the 
river  Nile.  Its  accommodation  was  a  trifle  dingy  and 
unsavoury,  and  it  was  crowded  with  noisy  and  not  particu- 
larly attractive  natives  of  various  costumes,  ranks,  and 
shades  of  colour,  but  an  inoffensive  Greek  proprietor,  who 
spoke  intelligible  French,  promised  us  a  meal  within 
an  hour,  and,  preferring  the  open  air  to  the  atmos- 
phere of  the  cabaret,  we  seated  ourselves  in  a  sort  of 
decayed  bandstand  across  the  road.  It  was  bitterly  cold, 
we  were  annoyed  by  repulsive  mendicants  and  abusive 
boot-blacks,  and  every  passing  minute  brought  a  deeper 
conviction  that  we  were  going  to  get  nothing  lit  to  eat. 
However,  just  when  we  were  beginning  to  suspect  that 
we  had  been  entirely  forgotten  and  were  going  to  get 
nothing  at  all,  dinner  was  announced,  and  following 
Shamandi  into  an  inner  parlour,  the  existence  of  which 
afforded  some  relief,  we  were  served  by  the  proprietor 
with  a  respectably  cooked  meal  that  dispelled  our  fears. 

We  still  had  an  hour  to  wait  at  the  end  of  it,  before 
there  was  any  object  in  going  to  the  station.  It  would 
have  been  a  very  dull  wait  had  not  Shamandi  nobly 
risen  to  the  occasion,  and  after  presenting  his  account 
passed  away  the  time  by  an  entertaining  sketch  of  some 
of  his  experiences.  He  had  taken  a  great  interest  in  the 
boy  Kasonde,  and  was  scarcely  able  to  believe  that  he 
was  really  going  to  England.  He  had  estimated  him  to 
be  an  infant  of  ten  or  twelve,  and  when  he  had  got  over 
his  astonishment  at  learning  his  true  age  (which  was 
nearly  twenty-four)  he  regaled  us  with  reminiscences  of 
his  own  early  and  brilliant  youth.  He  had  never  been 
to  England,  he  had  to  admit,  but  he  had  very  nearly  been 
to  France,  and  as  nearly  to  America.  In  the  first  case 
it  was  a  royal  princess  who  had  expressed  a  desire  to 


282    THROUGH   THE   HEART  OF  AFRICA 


add  him  to  her  staff,  and  had  offered  his  parents  ;^250 
for  their  consent.  The  infatuated  party  from  across  the 
Atlantic  had  been  an  heiress,  who  had  come  but  a  Httle 
later,  and  had  been  wiUing  to  give  £joo  for  the  privilege 
of  taking  him  home  and  giving  him  an  education.  In 
both  cases  Shamandi's  father  had  been  only  too  ready  to 
let  him  go,  but  his  mother  had  thwarted  the  old  man's 
greed  for  gain,  and  had  hidden  away  the  young  Shamandi 
till  the  danger  had  passed,  so  he  was  still  Shamandi 
Ahmed,  dragoman  of  Luxor ;  a  highly  accomplished 
dragoman,  no  doubt,  with  all  the  certificates  for  proficiency 
in  his  work,  but  without  the  Western  polish  that  might  so 
easily  have  been  his.  His  mother,  he  added  sadly,  was  a 
good  woman,  but  her  attitude  had  tried  the  old  man  too 
far,  and  his  father  had  divorced  her,  and  had  taken  to 
himself  another  wife. 

When  he  dropped  for  a  time  the  serious  note  and 
became  a  humorist,  the  transition  was  so  gradual  that  at 
first  we  did  not  notice  the  change.  He  confided  in  us  that 
his  patience  was  sorely  tried  by  a  certain  class  of  visitors 
who  would  protest  airy  incredulity  at  his  facts  and  dates, 
and  would  brutally  declare  that  the  paintings  in  the  tombs 
and  temples  were  not  more  than  six  months  old.  In 
relating  the  delinquencies  of  one  party  who  had  tried  him 
more  than  most,  he  described  it  as  consisting  of  "  One 
young  gennleman  and  one  young  leddy,  one  old  gennleman, 
nineteenth  dynasty,  sixteen  hundred  years  before  Christ, 
and  one  old  leddy,  twentieth  dynasty,  fourteen  hundred 
years  before  Christ "  ;  and  whenever  the  characters 
recurred  in  his  story  he  never  failed  to  give  them  their 
full  description. 

His  account  had  been  a  little  heavier  than  we  had 
expected  :  he  had  charged  us  for  four  days,  some  of  them 
at  double  rates,  but  as  he  had  shown  us  things  that  occupy 
the  usual  visitor  seven  to  ten  days,  we  did  not  complain, 
and  the  presentation  of  this  big  account  showed  us  a  new 
side  of  his  character.  When  he  learnt  that  if  we  paid  him 
in  full  we  might  be  short  of  cash  for  railway  charges  to 
Cairo,  he  not  only  readily  consented  to  our  suggestion 


EGYPT 


283 


that  part  should  be  remitted  by  post  on  our  arrival  there, 
but  tried  to  persuade  us  to  leave  the  whole  amount  in 
abeyance  as  long  as  it  suited  us. 

The  loading  of  baggage  on  to  the  train-de-luxe  in  its 
five-minute  halt  at  Baliana  station  seemed  to  be  a  quite 
unprecedented  service  to  ask  of  the  railway  staff.  In  fact, 
with  half-an-hour  to  spare,  it  seemed  at  first  more  than 
doubtful  if  we  were  even  going  to  get  ours  weighed. 
Eventually,  however,  we  managed  to  circumvent  the 
obstructiveness  of  the  station-master,  whose  attitude 
afforded  a  considerable  contrast  to  the  courtesy  with 
which  earlier  in  the  day  a  senior  colleague  had  relieved  us 
of  ICS.  for  an  accidentally  broken  window-pane,  and  we 
got  successfully  away.  Kasonde  was  in  luck.  The  con- 
ductor of  the  train  had  been  in  Nyasaland,  Madagascar,  and 
Zanzibar,  and  still  retained  a  smattering  of  Chimang'anja 
and  Ki-Swahili.  There  were  no  third-class  compartments 
on  the  train,  but  his  kindly  interest  secured  for  the  boy 
the  luxury  of  having  a  second-class  carriage  for  his  ex- 
clusive use.  For  ourselves  the  wagon-lit  provided  what  is 
generally  considered  to  be  the  acme  of  railway  comfort, 
though  greater  convenience  might  be  secured  by  the  sacri- 
fice of  a  little  less  room  to  massive  gaudiness  and  show. 

At  eight  o'clock  on  an  icy  cold  morning  we  arrived  at 
Cairo  and  betook  ourselves  to  Shepheard's  Hotel  and  a 
welcome  fire.  Despite  the  warmth  of  our  reception  by  an 
almost  lifelong  friend,  Mr.  Maurice  Moberly,  Governor  of 
the  Tura  convict  prison,  our  memory  of  Cairo  will  always 
be  one  of  cold.  It  was  bleak,  windy,  sleety  weather,  and 
about  as  unlike  the  Cairo  of  one's  fancy  as  could  be 
imagined.  This  is  an  example  of  the  climatic  changes 
that  began  to  take  place  on  the  opening  of  the  Suez  Canal, 
and,  helped  by  the  ever-increasing  irrigation  of  Lower 
Egypt,  has  been  since  growing  more  and  more  marked. 
The  rainfall  has  already  increased  nearly  sevenfold,  and 
the  mean  temperature  has  become  appreciably  lower. 

The  wealth  of  antique  treasures  in  the  Museum — one 
of  the  best  designed  and  best  lighted  in  the  world — was 
enchanting,  but  needed  much  more  time  than  we  had  at 


284    THROUGH  THE  HEART  OF  AFRICA 


our  disposal.  The  Pyramids  we  visited  in  one  of  the 
most  poisonous  blizzards  that  man  would  venture  out  in. 
It  was  raining  fast  and  blowing  a  gale,  and  the  rain  and 
wind-whirled  sand  stung  us  like  whips  and  penetrated 
everything  we  wore.  It  was  impossible  to  enjoy  or  appre- 
ciate anything.  We  had  intended  to  climb  up  the  Great 
Pyramid,  and  explore  it  to  its  depths,  but  in  that  weather  it 
was  impossible,  and  after  a  perfunctory  tour  half  round  it, 
a  visit  to  the  temples  of  the  Sphinx,  with  their  marvellous 
corners  dovetailed  in  granite,  and  five  minutes  with  the 
Sphinx  itself,  we  abandoned  the  effort,  and  forced  our 
way,  shivering,  against  the  hurricane,  to  seek  tea  and 
warmth  in  the  Mena  House  Hotel. 

One  of  the  most  enjoyable  incidents  of  our  stay  was  a 
visit  to  the  Tura  prison,  the  central  penal  settlement  of 
the  country.  The  buildings,  which  cover  a  large  area, 
stand  on  the  eastern  bank  of  the  Nile,  a  few  miles  out  of 
Cairo.  They  accommodate  1700  convicts,  with  a  staff  of 
350,  of  whom  the  only  European  is  the  Governor  him- 
self. We  were  privileged  to  enjoy  a  complete  tour  of 
the  establishment,  visiting  every  corner  of  it,  and  much 
admired  the  economic  management  of  its  varied  and  self- 
supporting  departments.  Before  we  took  our  leave  we 
witnessed  an  admirably  executed  performance  of  musical 
drill  by  the  sons  of  the  warders,  who  are  provided  with  a 
school  and  free  education  on  the  premises,  and  we  were  at 
once  reminded  of  the  somewhat  similar  performance — 
the  parade  of  the  Choli  cadet  corps — that  we  had  enjoyed 
some  weeks  before. 

On  January  22nd  we  took  our  departure,  sailing  from 
Port  Said  for  Europe  the  same  evening  on  board  the 
Orient  liner  Orvido,  having  covered  in  all  a  distance  of 
5688  miles  in  a  hundred  and  eighty-eight  days.  The 
journey  had  even  exceeded  our  anticipations  in  enjoyment 
and  interest,  and  we  felt  no  regrets  at  having  spent  our 
leave  in  this  manner,  travelling  through  the  continent. 
Apart  from  the  interest  of  seeing  the  various  countries 
passed  in  the  stage  of  evolution  that  they  have  at  present 
reached,  the  experience  gained  in  such  an  extended  trip 


EGYPT 


cannot  but  be  of  use  to  us  if  we  should  be  able  to  carry 
out  another  journey  through  less  known  stretches  of  Africa. 

With  the  exception  of  one  carrier  dismissed  in  the 
first  week  of  our  journey  through  German  East  Africa, 
and  the  abortive  strike  of  our  Baganda  carriers  near  the 
Victoria  Nile,  we  had  no  trouble  with  any  of  our  carriers. 
We  never  had  occasion  to  punish  any  of  them,  nor  to 
report  any  to  their  district  commissioners.  Our  relations 
with  the  chiefs,  headmen,  and  people  of  every  tribe  were 
equally  satisfactory,  and  throughout  the  journey  they 
assisted  us  in  every  possible  way,  besides  treating  us  with 
friendliness  and  courtesy. 

Every  traveller  has  his  own  ideas  as  to  outfit,  so  we 
do  not  intend  to  add  to  the  numerous  lists  of  camp  equip- 
ment that  have  been  published  in  other  books,  but  will 
content  ourselves  with  brief  notes  on  a  few  items  such  as 
clothing,  rifles,  cameras,  and  cycles,  as  these  may  prove  of 
some  value.  We  both  wore  drill  shirts — without  coats — 
and  shorts  when  trekking,  and  though  many  may  disagree, 
we  consider  this  to  be  the  most  comfortable  kit  in  which 
to  walk  or  cycle.  On  the  shirts,  which  had  short  sleeves, 
we  wore  spine-pads  of  solaro  cloth,  and  our  double  terai 
hats  were  lined  with  the  same  material  (neither  of  us 
wore  helmets).  Except  in  the  bad  elephant  grass  we  had 
bare  legs,  wearing  no  covering  on  them  above  our  socks, 
but  for  the  two  months  during  which  we  were  in  such 
rough  country,  we  supplemented  these  with  puttees,  or 
wore  stockings.  One  of  us  wore  thin  chrome  leather 
boots,  one  pair  of  which  lasted  throughout  the  journey, 
while  the  other  was  shod  in  rubber-soled  canvas  boots. 

Our  battery  consisted  of,  for  one,  a  double-barrelled 
.450  by  Rigby,  and  a  .350  Rigby  Mauser,  a  shot  gun,  and 
a  .22  rook  rifle  ;  for  the  other,  a  double-barrelled  .360  by 
Evans,  a  .310  by  Greener,  and  a  ball  and  shot  gun  ;  and, 
in  our  opinion,  the  .350  and  .360  bore  rifles  are  the  most 
useful  for  all-round  work  in  Africa  for  everything  from 
elephant,  rhino,  and  buffalo  to  small  buck.  With  both 
these  weapons  we  have  on  more  than  one  occasion 
dropped  elephants  with  the  frontal  shot,  which  for  a  long 


286    THROUGH  THE  HEART  OF  AFRICA 


time  was  considered  an  impossibility.  The  possessor  of 
the  .450  has  now  changed  that  weapon  for  a  double  .350, 
and  now  relies  entirely  on  this  weapon  and  the  magazine 
rifle  of  the  same  bore,  while  he  has  substituted  a  double 
.310  by  Greener  for  the  ,22,  as  the  latter  is  too  small  for 
practical  purposes,  and  the  former  is  as  good  for  small 
buck  as  it  is  for  guinea-fowl.  The  other  has  made  no 
change  in  his  battery  except  to  substitute  a  double- 
barrel  .310  for  the  single-barrelled  rifle  of  the  same  bore 
and  make. 

Our  cameras  deserve  a  passing  notice.  We  carried, 
first,  a  half-plate  stand  camera  by  Chapman  of  Manchester, 
fitted  with  a  Ross  R.R.  lens  working  at  F8,  which  had 
been  in  use  since  1893,  and  is  as  good  to-day  as  it  ever 
was  (with  this,  Paget  XXX  glass  plates  were  used,  and  out 
of  six  dozen  only  one  was  broken) ;  secondly,  two  5  in.  by 
4  in.  kodaks,  one  of  which  had  been  in  use  in  Africa  since 
1901  ;  and,  thirdly,  a  panoram  kodak,  purchased  in  1905. 
For  these  kodaks  N.C.  films  were  used,  and  out  of  some 
seventy-five  dozen  exposed,  we  had  not  one  bad  or  deterio- 
rated film.  We  found  the  light  in  British  East  Africa  and 
Uganda  weaker  than  in  Rhodesia  and  in  German  East 
Africa,  and  considered  it  advisable  to  work — for  snapshots 
— on  an  average  at  Fii  instead  of  at  F.16.  In  the 
Soudan  and  Egypt  the  light  was  again  more  powerful, 
and  to  start  with,  especially  with  time-exposures  with  the 
half-plate  camera,  we  were  inclined  to  over-expose  ;  but 
considering  the  fact  that  our  exposures  varied  from 
to  75"  we  were,  on  the  whole,  very  lucky.  All  the  plates 
and  films  were  always  in  airtight  tins,  carried  in  wooden 
boxes,  as  in  tin  trunks  the  heat  is  often  more  than  they 
can  stand. 

The  only  other  items  in  our  kit  that  call  for  any  com- 
ment are  the  bicycles  and  the  acetylene  lamps.  For 
the  former  we  would  recommend  any  one  contemplating 
cycling  in  Africa  to  take  a  light  roadster  of  a  reliable  make, 
with  a  first-class  saddle,  thorn-proof  (pneumatic)  tyres,  or 
roadster  tyres  with  chrome  leather  bands,  spare  nuts, 
washers,  bolts,  and  balls,  and  some  extra  tubes  and  outer 


EGYPT 


287 


covers.  Heavy  bicycles  are  a  mistake,  and  so  (we  think) 
are  two-speed  gears.  As  for  lights,  for  camp  life  as  well 
as  for  life  on  an  up-country  station  we  both  swear  by 
acetylene,  and  throughout  the  journey  we  relied  on  a 
couple  of  miner's  hand-lamps,  burning  the  ordinary  rock 
carbide.  Though  a  little  more  trouble  than  paraffin,  we 
have  found  it  more  economical,  and  the  light  is  infinitely 
superior. 


XIX 


SOME  AFRICAN  PROBLEMS 

The  rapid  opening  up  of  Africa  by  rail  and  river,  and  some  reflections 
on  the  problems  that  this  development  is  presenting. 

A  JOURNEY  through  Africa  in  19 lo  cannot  be  compared 
with  even  the  shorter  journeys  of  the  great  explorers. 
The  difficulties  encountered  are  nothing  compared  with 
theirs  ;  they  are  far  less  than  they  were  even  twelve  years 
ago  when  E.  S.  Grogan  first  travelled  from  the  Cape  to 
Cairo.  The  line  of  the  great  lakes  and  the  Nile  is  no 
longer  an  unknown  country — the  slave  raiders  have  gone 
— the  barbarous  rule  of  Mwanga  in  Uganda  is  a  thing  of 
the  past — the  Dervish  power  in  the  Soudan  is  broken. 
Railways  and  telegraphs,  steamers  and  motor  cars  are 
replacing  the  old  caravans.  Well-built  brick  and  stone 
towns  lighted  with  electric  light  and  supplied  with  the 
luxuries  of  civilisation,  well-tended  farms  and  plantations 
exist  where  recently  was  nothing  but  savagery.  But 
Africa  has  not  ceased  to  be  interesting  because  it  has 
begun  to  be  civilised  ;  on  the  contrary,  it  can  be  stated 
without  much  fear  of  contradiction  that  tropical  Africa  is 
more  interesting  at  the  present  date  than  it  has  ever  been, 
and  the  problems  of  its  future  are  more  complex  than 
those  of  its  past. 

We  have  tried  in  these  pages  to  convey  some  idea  of 
the  country  as  it  is  to-day,  to  show  something  of  the  life 
of  the  resident  as  well  as  that  of  the  traveller,  and  to 
portray  the  centres  of  civilisation  as  well  as  the  still 
unspoilt  wilds.  The  reader  may  well  ask,  "  What  of  it  ? 
What  of  this  huge  country  that  you  have  traversed  ?  Is 
it  well  with  it  ?  What  are  we  doing  there,  and  what  of 
the  future  ?    What  are  these  complex  problems  to  which 

28S 


SOME  AFRICAN  PROBLEMS  289 


you  refer  ?  "  A  subject  that  might  well  occupy  a  whole 
volume  can  be  but  touched  upon  in  a  single  chapter,  but 
a  brief  survey  may  serve  to  indicate  the  main  problems, 
and  provide  some  food  for  thought.  As  recently  as  ten 
years  ago  there  were  many  who  wondered  whether  the 
statesmen  responsible  for  our  imperial  policy  in  the  decade 
from  1885  to  1894  had  not  made  a  great  mistake  in 
assuming  for  Great  Britain  heavy  responsibilities  in 
tropical  and  unhealthy  Africa.  To-day  there  are  found 
but  few  who  doubt  the  wisdom  of  their  action.  The 
results  of  the  past  ten  years  have  more  than  justified  our 
protectorates  ;  there  is,  in  fact,  an  ever-increasing  number 
who  regret  that  greater  advantage  was  not  taken  of  the 
vast  opportunities  that  then  presented  themselves.  Not 
only  have  peace,  prosperity  and  liberty,  both  religious  and 
civil,  taken  the  place  of  war,  devastation,  and  slavery,  but 
England  is  beginning  to  realise  that  these  tropical  depend- 
encies are  a  profitable  investment ;  and  that  the  possi- 
bilities of  Rhodesia,  Nyasaland,  British  East  Africa,  Uganda, 
and  the  Soudan  have  as  yet  only  been  hinted  at.^ 

Tropical  Africa  is  developing  at  a  tremendous  rate. 
Those  of  us  who  live  in  it  can  hardly  grasp  the  changes : 
the  average  Englishman  at  home  does  not  form  a  picture 
of  the  new  conditions  till  they  have  already  given  place 
to  newer  ones.  How  many  realise  that  already  one  can 
travel  from  Antwerp  to  within  a  hundred  miles  or  so  of 
Tanganyika  by  rail  and  steamer  ?  or  that,  but  for  three 
small  stretches  (Ujiji-Tabora,  Bukoba-Entebbe,  Nimule- 
Gondokoro),  there  is  direct  telegraphic  communication  be- 
tween the  Cape  and  Cairo  ?  Yet  not  so  long  ago  this  was 
considered  a  wild-cat  scheme.  When  we  left  Rhodesia  in 
July  1910  we  had  not  heard  of  Elisabethville,  the  Belgian 
town  over  our  borders — probably  it  did  not  exist.  On 
our  return  (June  191 1)  we  find  that  it  has  a  population 

^  "We  have  arrived  at  a  new  era  in  the  history  of  the  White  Man's  burden. 
The  problem  of  the  present  and  near  future  is  the  active  and  scientific  exploitation 
of  the  tropics.  The  Colonial  Secretary  is  trustee  for  one  of  the  greatest  under 
veloped  estates  in  the  world." — Noel  Buxton  in  The  Nation.  "The  struggle 
for  the  control  of  the  tropics  during  the  later  years  of  the  Victorian  era  proved  our 
tropical  colonies  to  be  of  political  and  commercial  necessity  to  the  Empire." — The 
Broad  Stone  of  Empire,  by  Sir  Charles  Bruce. 

T 


290    THROUGH  THE  HEART  OF  AFRICA 


of  1 200  and  boasts  a  daily  newspaper  !  In  the  eastern 
half  of  the  continent  the  rapid  construction  of  railways 
is  not  only  an  indication  of  progress  and  enterprise,  but 
it  is  pre-eminently  the  most  notable  feature  of  the  present 
day,  and  is  probably  almost  unparalleled.  It  may  be 
years  before  there  is  a  through  line  from  the  Cape  to 
Cairo,  but  the  basis  of  the  scheme  that  Cecil  Rhodes  first 
propounded  to  a  sceptical  world  is  already  nearly  a  fait 
accompli.  Nearly  two-thirds  of  the  main  route  has  been 
covered,  while  connecting  links  with  the  coast  are  coming 
in  at  every  side,^  and  the  day  of  the  branch  line  has 
already  begun — from  Port  Soudan  to  Khartoum,  from 
Jibouti  to  the  heart  of  Abyssinia,  from  Mombasa  to  the 
Victoria  Nyanza,  with  a  branch  to  Fort  Hall,  the  German 
lines  from  Tanga  and  from  Dar-es-Salam,  and  the  Shire 
Highlands  Railway.  From  the  West  Coast  the  Lobito 
Bay  line  is  being  pushed  on  to  Katanga  to  meet  the 
northern  extension  of  the  Rhodesia  Railways  which  are 
already  creeping  on  from  Elisabethville  to  Kambove,  and 
these  will  connect  before  long  with  the  Congo  route  from 
Boma  to  Albertville.  Later  there  is  little  doubt  that  the 
whole  system  will  link  up  with  Tanganyika,  Victoria  and 
Albert  Nyanzas,  and  form  a  continuous  network  of  rail- 
way and  steamer  routes  connecting  every  place  between 
Elisabethville  and  Mahagi  with  the  coast.  In  the  interior 
the  Jinja-Kakindu  Railway  is  linking  up  Bunyoro  with  the 
East  Coast,  and  will  soon  be  part  of  a  through  communi- 
cation between  Alexandria  and  Mombasa.  The  Soudan 
Railway  has  advanced  up  the  Blue  Nile  to  Sennar,  and 
has  now  cut  across  the  White  Nile  and  is  pushing  on 
into  Kordofan.  Steamers  run  on  all  the  great  lakes  :  the 
White  Nile  is  navigated  by  stern-wheelers  to  Rejaf,  the 
Blue  Nile  to  Roseires,  the  Sobat  to  Gambela,  and  the 
Bahr-el-Ghazal  to  Wau.  From  Butiaba  to  Nimule,  and 
from  Kakindu  to  Foweira,  steamers  also  ply. 

It  is  a  long  list,  but  it  is  not  complete,  and  before 

*  In  1900  Rhodes  wrote,  "  The  object  is  to  cut  Africa  through  the  centre,  and 
the  railway  will  pick  up  trade  all  along  the  route.  The  junctions  to  the  east  and 
west  coasts,  which  will  occur  in  the  future,  will  be  outlets  for  the  traffic  obtained 
along  the  route  of  the  line  as  it  passes  through  the  centre  of  Africa." 


SOME  AFRICAN  PROBLEMS 


291 


one  has  grown  accustomed  to  the  prospect  of  all  these 
lands  being  thrown  open  to  civilisation  and  development 
it  will  be  out  of  date,  Africa  has  been  moving  fast  since 
the  century  began — a  glimpse  at  the  experiences  of  the 
first  traveller  from  the  Cape  to  Cairo  is  sufficiently  con- 
vincing of  that — but  the  rate  at  which  it  has  already 
advanced  is  nothing  compared  to  that  at  which  it  is  going 
to  advance  during  the  next  few  years.  No  effort  should 
be  spared,  therefore,  to  understand  and  master  the  various 
problems  that  face  us.  We  Europeans  have  taken  upon 
ourselves  to  govern  Africa  ;  we  have  made  ourselves  re- 
sponsible for  the  country.  Are  we  doing  our  best  for 
it  and  with  it  ?  Are  we  going  to  continue  to  do  so, 
and  on  what  general  lines  should  its  development 
proceed  ? 

In  a  discussion  on  the  future  of  this  part  of  Africa 
we  may  exclude  the  questions  involving  political  problems 
of  international  interest,  such  as  the  future  of  Abyssinia, 
and  the  "  storm-centre  "  of  Darfur  and  the  Senoussi.  The 
questions  that  are  imminent  are  those  touching  the  regions 
already  under  definite  control  and  awaiting  development — 
the  settlement  of  a  European  population,  the  labour  ques- 
tion, the  relations  between  black  and  white,  the  treatment 
and  use  of  the  natives,  and  our  right  to,  and  rights  in, 
the  territories  we  are  administering.  With  regard  to  the 
first,  enough  is  already  known  of  East  and  Central  Africa 
to  dispose  of  the  old  fiction  that  it  is  necessarily  and  in- 
evitably the  white  man's  grave.  The  greater  portions 
of  Rhodesia,  the  Belgian  Congo  highlands,  and  the  western 
parts  of  British  East  Africa  at  any  rate  are  suitable  for 
European  settlement ;  they  are,  indeed,  more  suitable  than 
many  parts  of  South  Africa.  The  climate  is  admirable, 
the  soil  fertile,  and  the  rainfall  adequate.  Their  accessi- 
bility grows  each  succeeding  year,  and  their  healthiness 
is,  with  one  exception,  rapidly  becoming  only  a  matter  of 
experience  and  care.  The  one  exception  that  must  be 
borne  in  mind  is  the  Sleeping  Sickness.  There  is,  how- 
ever, a  reasonable  hope  that  the  discovery  of  a  remedy 
is  but  a  matter  of  time,  and  may  quite  conceivably  soon 


292    THROUGH  THE   HEART  OF  AFRICA 


be  an  accomplished  fact.  There  is  also  the  consolation 
that,  whether  or  not  the  scourge  has  been  effectually 
checked,  there  is  a  considerable  choice  of  territory  that 
is  either  free  from  suspicion,  or  where  a  reasonable  amount 
of  care  can  avert  the  risk. 

The  prospects  of  stock-raising  are  also  at  present  com- 
plicated by  the  existence  of  the  tsetse  fly  {Glosswa 
Mo7-sitans)  in  some  districts  that  are  otherwise  eminently 
suitable  for  cattle,  but  this  has  already  yielded  in  many 
instances  to  the  effects  of  progress  and  civilisation,  and, 
although  possibly  slow,  its  extermination  may  also  in  time 
be  effected.  The  possibihties  of  the  land  have  already 
been  touched  upon.  The  prospects  of  cattle-raising  and 
cotton  and  rubber  cultivation  in  Northern  Rhodesia,  of 
cotton,  tea,  and  rubber  in  Nyasaland,  of  sisal  and  rubber 
in  German  East  Africa,  are  more  than  good.  Forest 
timber  and  rubber,  as  well  as  the  great  mineral  wealth  in 
the  Congo,  are  attracting  deserved  attention.  Uganda 
has  proved  beyond  dispute  its  eminent  suitability  for 
plantations  of  rubber,  cocoa,  coffee,  and  cotton.  The 
highlands  of  the  East  African  Protectorate  have  a  future 
for  the  cultivation  of  wheat,  sisal,  wattle,  and  other  crops, 
as  well  as  for  raising  cattle,  sheep,  and  ostriches,  while  the 
lowlands  are  being  successfully  exploited  for  the  produc- 
tion of  cotton  and  rubber.  The  Soudan  already  produces 
great  quantities  of  cotton,  gum,  and  other  valuable  pro- 
ducts. The  development  of  the  Congo  has  been  retarded, 
but  if  the  indication  that  its  future  is  going  to  be  regu- 
lated on  sound  lines  is  a  true  one,  its  progress  will  be 
one  of  great  rapidity.  Every  section  of  its  eastern  system 
of  communications  will  soon  be  linked  not  only  with  each 
other  but  with  the  ocean  at  Boma,  Lobito  Bay,  and  Beira. 
The  opening  up  of  these  profitable  territories  will  attract 
a  large  population,  and  involve  the  settlement  of  a  variety 
of  problems. 

In  the  selection  and  admission  of  the  settler  himself 
the  greatest  care  will  for  many.years  have  to  be  exercised. 
Men  of  little  or  no  experience  or  training,  and  with  an 
insufficient  capital,  will  only  be  encouraged  to  their  own 


SOME  AFRICAN  PROBLEMS  293 

ruin.  Africa  is  essentially  not — except  within  narrow 
limits — a  country  for  unskilled  white  labour  ;  this  is  and 
must  always  be  to  a  large  extent  the  province  of  the 
indigenous  population.  It  offers  rather  an  opportunity 
for  men  who  are  trained  artisans,  or  who  are  capable 
of  the  role  of  overseer — men  who  can  manage,  teach,  and 
extract  work  from  others. 

The  allocation  of  land,  and  the  terms  on  which  it  is  to 
be  held,  must  be  reasonable,  equitable,  and  encouraging. 
Land  should  be  granted  as  far  as  possible  as  freehold — 
the  disadvantages  to  the  serious  ambitions  of  the  settler  of 
leasehold  property  in  a  new  country  are  sufficiently 
patent  without  labouring  the  point.  Huge  grants  of  land 
to  syndicates  and  companies  who  intend  to  wait  for  the 
rise  of  land  values  and  then  speculate  should  be  as 
rigorously  discouraged  as  the  system  of  granting  strips 
along  the  line  to  railway  companies  in  lieu  of  subsidies. 

The  birth  of  the  Union  of  South  Africa  has  brought 
a  factor  into  the  consideration  of  the  future  of  the  conti- 
nent that  may  possibly  make  itself  felt  even  beyond  the 
Zambezi  River.  The  extension  of  the  North  American 
Union  from  a  beginning  of  thirteen  small  States  to  its 
present  dimensions  was  originally  neither  foreseen  nor 
intended,  and  it  is  quite  possible  that  those  who  are  con- 
cerned in  the  preservation  of  the  identity  of  the  South 
Central  African  dependencies  will  have  a  considerable 
force  to  reckon  with  in  the  future. 

With  the  opening  up  of  these  new  lands  will  arise  the 
question  as  to  what  extent  is  the  future  of  an  exclusively 
European  settlement  justified.  The  Indian  immigration 
problem  has  already  proved  acute  in  parts  of  South  Africa, 
and  there  have  not  been  wanting  indications  that  other  and 
almost  equally  habitable  portions  of  pacified  Africa  have 
been  regarded  with  covetous  eyes  by  a  section  of  the 
public  which  apparently  holds  that  because  something  that 
we  have  is  good  most  of  it  ought  to  be  given  to  some  one 
else.  The  service  that  a  portion  of  the  population  of 
India  has  done  in  the  opening  up  of  the  East  Africa  and 
Uganda  Protectorates  is  considerable,  and  is  denied  by 


294    THROUGH  THE  HEART  OF  AFRICA 

none.  Their  employment  on  the  Uganda  Railway  ren- 
dered possible  an  achievement  that  without  them  would 
probably  have  had  to  wait  for  years,  while  their  highly 
developed  trading  instinct  and  ability  to  live  on  almost  as 
little  as  the  natives  themselves  have  paved  the  way  for 
European  trade  in  the  interior  to  a  very  valuable  degree. 
But  at  the  same  time  it  is  a  most  unnecessarily  altruistic 
policy  that  would,  in  return,  offer  them  the  unrestricted 
immigration  into  and  occupation  of  a  country  that  they 
have,  either  for  attractive  pay  or  for  their  own  ends, 
incidentally  helped  to  develop.  The  bricklayer  or  mason 
is  a  valuable  and  indispensable  factor  in  the  construction 
of  a  palace,  but  the  most  philanthropic  of  owners  could 
hardly  be  expected  to  offer  him,  except  indirectly,  a  share 
in  the  joys  and  luxuries  of  the  completed  edifice.  The 
claim  of  the  Indian  population  to  unrestricted  settlement 
on  equal  terms  to  those  granted  to  Europeans  cannot  be 
seriously  considered,  and  it  is  difficult  to  see  that  they 
would  have  any  just  cause  for  complaint  if  they  were  to  be 
entirely  prohibited  from  acquiring  land,  at  any  rate  in  such 
parts  as  are  suitable  for  European  settlement.  The  immi- 
gration of  Indian  races  to  the  lower  and  more  tropical 
regions  is  on  a  different  footing.  If  there  should  be 
sufficient  reason  to  maintain  that  overcrowding  in  India 
calls  for  some  outlet,  then  parts  of  British  East  Africa 
might  be  found  for  their  settlement.  But  such  a  step 
should  not  be  hastily  decided  on,  for  it  must  not  be  for- 
gotten that  as  it  was  the  British  and  not  the  Indian  tax- 
payer who  has  borne  the  expense  connected  with  acquiring 
these  lands,  it  is  he  that  is  entitled  to  a  prior  claim.  The 
European,  too,  is  beginning  to  make  good  his  claim  to  the 
fertile  coast  belt  on  the  Indian  Ocean,  and  to  the  tract 
known  as  Jubaland,  which  promises  to  become  a  miniature 
Egypt.  The  assistance  to  trade  rendered  by  Indians  is 
due  to  the  fact  that  they  can  dispense  with  the  comforts 
that  are  a  sine  qua  non  to  European  settlers  in  Africa,  and 
as  they  come  to  the  country  to  make  money,  and  spend 
less  in  it  than  their  European  rivals,  sending  all  their 
money  home  to  India,  it  is  difficult  to  see  that  they  have 


SOME  AFRICAN  PROBLEMS  295 


any  claim  beyond  that  of  not  being  hampered  by  special 
regulations  and  restrictions  relative  to  trading. 

The  problem  of  paramount  importance,  however,  is 
the  native  problem,  though  it  is  by  no  means  universally 
assigned  its  proper  place.  That  the  stay-at-home  student 
of  African  affairs  should  be  unable  to  realise  the  actual 
position  and  exigencies  is  not  altogether  surprising,  but  it 
is  also  not  uncommon  to  find  residents  in  the  country 
whom  it  seems  to  have  escaped,  that  the  native  problem 
not  only  even  now  affects  every  phase  of  African  life,  but 
is  one  that  in  the  future  "is  likely  to  become  rather  more 
than  less  acute.  When  the  subject  of  the  development 
and  settlement  of  Africa  is  under  discussion  it  is  not 
unusual  to  hear  the  question  put,  "  What  right  have  we  to 
the  land  ?  What  right  have  we  to  take  it  from  the  natives 
whom  we  found  in  possession,  and  to  use  it  ourselves  ? 
What  benefit  is  our  occupation  conferring  upon  them  ?  " 
Some  even  go  further,  and,  on  hearing  it  urged  that  at  any 
rate  our  administration  means  peace  and  comparatively 
sound  government  where  formerly  there  was  nothing  but 
bloodshed  and  grotesque  injustice,  uncompromisingly  deny 
the  right  of  any  nation  to  impose  upon  even  the  lower 
grades  of  humanity  any  form  of  government  other  than 
that  which  they  have  already  chosen  to  adopt.  Abandon- 
ing the  task  of  correcting  by  argument  a  dogma  that 
would  deny  to  every  unhappy  section  of  humanity,  white 
or  black,  the  opportunity  of  amelioration  afforded  by  the 
assistance  or  interference  of  their  more  fortunate  and 
enlightened  fellows,  and  would  deprive  a  nation  of  even 
its  cherished  mite  of  altruism,  let  us  examine  for  a  moment 
the  right  by  which  Britain  and  the  other  European  powers 
claim  a  share  in  the  wealth  of  Africa.  It  is,  in  fact,  so 
simple  that  to  those  who  have  any  knowledge  of  the 
history  and  traditions  of  the  African  tribes  it  is  a  wonder 
that  it  is  ever  asked.  The  right  of  the  European  nations  is 
very  nearly  the  same  as  that  of  the  natives  whom  they 
found  in  possession  :  only  very  nearly,  because  in  reality 
it  is  better.  Every  tribe  that  has  on  the  advent  of  the 
European  powers  been  found  in  possession  or  claiming 


296    THROUGH  THE  HEART  OF  AFRICA 


possession  of  any  portion  of  African  territory,  except  a 
few  like  the  Pygmies  of  the  Semliki  and  Congo  forests, 
the  Watwa  of  the  swamps  in  Northern  Rhodesia,  and  the 
Bushmen,  has  based  that  claim  on  comparatively  recent 
conquest  and  on  nothing  else.  Force  was  everything  ; 
might  was  right.  The  further  conquest  by  the  European 
nations  has  been  sometimes  accompanied  by  bloodshed, 
but  to  a  very  large  extent  by  none.  Are  they  to  be  denied 
the  rights  of  conquest  because  their  victory  has  been  a 
peaceful  or  a  peace-producing  one  ? 

The  native  conqueror  either  arrived  because  of  pressure 
from  outside — the  pressure  that  gives  rise  to  migration — 
or  else  owing  to  motives  of  greed.  The  white  conqueror 
has  generally  invaded  their  country  primarily  in  the  in- 
terests of  humanity,^  but  even  when  he  has  extended  his 
possessions  with  less  unselfish  motives  he  has  brought 
liberty,  security,  and  peace,  where  he  found  slavery,  rapine, 
and  war.  There  can  be  no  question  about  the  white 
man's  right ;  the  admission  of  it  by  the  natives  themselves 
could  not  be  more  frank  or  complete :  and  even  Britain, 
the  greatest  criminal  of  all,  if  the  annexation  of  African 
territory  is  to  be  called  a  crime,  earns  no  worse  title  than 
that  of  "  Land-grabber  "  amongst  the  rivals  whose  energy 
or  enterprise  or  altruism  has  proved  itself  a  shade  less 
profitable.  The  claim  of  the  civilised  conqueror  is 
strengthened  by  another  fact :  the  native  population  is, 
almost  without  exception,  an  unprofitable  proprietor  of 
the  land.  Their  wants  are  simple,  and  the  area  huge  out 
of  all  proportion  to  their  numbers,  and  even  such  portions 
as  are  cultivated  are  generally  treated  in  such  crude  and 
ignorant  methods,  as  hardly  to  redeem  them  from  the 
condition  of  waste  lands.  They  need  but  a  fraction  of 
the  land,  and  they  are  quite  unable  to  make  the  best  as 
yet  of  what  they  have,  or  to  trace  and  develop  the  hidden 
resources  of  the  country.  When  they  have  learnt  to  make 
the  best  of  what  they  have  they  will  be  able  to  do  with 

^  This  was  especially  the  case  in  Nyasaland  and  in  Uganda  :  and  when  there 
was  some  talk  of  abandoning  the  latter  country  in  i  S92,  the  Anti-Slavery  Society 
was  amongst  those  who  protested  and  urged  its  retention. 


SOME  AFRICAN  PROBLEMS 


even  less  than  they  now  occupy.  Is  it  reasonable  that 
huge  tracks  of  fertile  land  to  which  the  former  proprietors 
had  no  better  claim  should  be  abandoned  by  its  present 
conquerors  to  indolent  and  unprofitable  occupation  by 
savages  who  cannot  appreciate,  utilise,  or  absorb  ?  The 
very  idea  of  such  dog-in-the-manger  occupation  must 
surely  be  Anathema  Maranatha  to  the  legislator  of  the 
present  day.  And  yet — such  is  their  paradoxical  incon- 
sistency— it  is  chiefly  the  supporters  of  recent  legislation 
(under  which  the  owner  of  unprofitably  held  land  is  to  be 
so  heavily  penalised  that  he  is  obliged  to  give  it  up)  who 
descant  upon  the  iniquity  of  the  settlement  of  "  native  " 
lands. 

We  have,  however,  maintained  that  our  claim  is  even 
better  than  that  of  the  former  conquerors  of  the  land,  and 
we  base  this  superiority  of  claim  on  the  premise  that  our 
dominion  is,  in  effect,  for  the  good  of  humanity,  and  for 
the  benefit  of  the  natives  whom  we  have  brought  under 
our  sway.  To  make  this  good  we  have  a  duty  to  perform. i 
Our  duty  is  to  help  and  advance  the  country,  raise  the 
level  of  morality  of  its  inhabitants,  and  give  them  the 
advantage  of  so  much  of  our  civilisation  as  they  are  able 
to  absorb.  How  much  that  is,  is  a  matter  of  consider- 
able controversy.  It  is,  however,  beyond  question  that 
the  African  negro  is,  and  perhaps  must  be  for  centuries, 
incapable  of  a  standard  that  is  anything  but  low.  His 
nature  has  been  described  as  that  of  a  child,  and  it  has 
been  described  as  partly  that  of  a  woman  and  partly  that 
of  a  child,  but,  although  there  is  truth  in  both  similes,  it 
also  largely  approximates  to  that  of  an  adult  of  arrested 
and  even  distorted  development. 

Before  comprehensive  schemes  are  formulated  for  the 
civilisation  of  the  negro,  facts  must  be  recognised,  or  failure 
and  confusion  are  bound  to  result.  Like  the  domesticated 
animal,  he  is  an  admirable  institution  in  his  place,  but 
those  who  have  failed  to  realise  his  limitations  are  obviously 

^  "  It  is  incumbent  on  him  (the  white  man)  to  see  that  his  influence  is  not 
destructive  only.  .  .  .  He  should  do  his  utmost  to  direct  into  the  right  paths 
the  force  which  he  is  unloosing." — The  South  African  Natives,  by  the  S.A. 
Native  Races  Committee. 


298    THROUGH   THE   HEART  OF  AFRICA 


unqualified  to  adjudicate  upon  the  question  of  his  destiny. 
Not  only  does  it  stand  to  reason  that  animate  beings  who, 
since  their  evolution  from  protoplasm,  have  been  guided 
by  little  but  the  most  distorted  principles  of  justice  and 
humanity,  must  of  necessity  be  unable  to  emerge  at  a 
bound,  and  take  their  place  with  those  whose  enlighten- 
ment has  been  progressing  for  some  two  thousand  years, 
but  there  is  actually  scientific  proof  that  the  negro  is  at 
present  physiologically  incapable  of  more  than  a  limited 
moral  and  intellectual  development.^  The  conformation  of 
the  negro's  skull  shows  that  it  is  as  obviously  futile  to 
expect  him  to  attain  a  European  standard  of  civilisation 
and  culture  as  to  require  a  crew  of  paddlers  to  propel  the 
latest  Dreadnought,  or  a  fretwork  machine  to  do  the  work 
of  a  steam-saw.  Within  limits  everything  that  is  possible 
should  be  done,  and  it  is  indeed  as  much  to  the  advantage 
of  the  white  colonist  as  it  is  to  that  of  the  native  that  it 
should  be  done.  The  simple  virtues  of  honesty,  industry, 
and  reliability  can  and  should  be  diligently  instilled,  but  in 
the  attempt  to  raise  his  moral  status  it  should  be  borne  in 
mind  that  he  is  in  a  sense  in  statu  piipilari,  and  that  he 
needs  careful  and  unremitting  supervision  and  discipline 
to  an  even  greater  extent  than  does  the  schoolboy  of 
civilised  nations. 

Even  at  his  present  stage  of  development  the  native 
as  a  worker  is  invaluable  to  the  development  of  his  country. 
Purely  manual  labour  is  largely  his  monopoly,  and  will 
probably  have  to  remain  so,  though  training  and  discipline 
should  make  him  far  more  efficient.  In  the  lower  branches 
of  skilled  labour  he  is  already  beginning  to  take  a  useful 
place.  Here  again  we  tread  close  on  controversy,  but 
without  entering  into  a  discussion  of  the  extent  to  which, 
even  for  economical  reasons,  he  should  be  encouraged  to 
do  work  at  which  the  white  man  can  earn  a  living  wage, 
one  may  draw  attention  to  the  departments  in  which  he 
is  already  being  profitably  employed,  and  in  which  his 
employment  might  with  excellent  results  be  still  further 

^  "A  negro  cannot  by  any  amount  of  civilizing  be  evolved  into  a  European." 
— Dr.  Keltic  in  The  Partition  of  Africa. 


SOME  AFRICAN  PROBLEMS 


299 


extended.  In  Nyasaland  and  Northern  Rhodesia  his 
service  as  clerk,  typist,  and  artisan  is  an  invaluable  asset. 
He  is  imitative  rather  than  initiative,  but  he  is  capable  of 
getting  through  a  protracted  amount  of  mechanical  copy- 
ing and  drudgery  that  relieves  the  white  man  to  a  con- 
siderable degree  of  the  dull  tedium  of  his  work.  In 
Uganda  and  the  East  African  Protectorate  this  work  is 
still  mainly  performed  by  Indian  and  Goanese.  It  is 
especially  surprising  that  in  so  advanced  a  country  as  the 
former  little  use  has  yet  been  made  of  the  local  material 
in  this  respect.  From  the  general  standard  of  the  native 
population  it  is  reasonable  to  suppose  that  the  necessary 
training  would  be  a  matter  of  but  little  difficulty.  The 
results  would  be  more  economical  and  presumably  of 
greater  benefit  to  the  country  than  the  employment  of 
aliens,  and  the  substitution  of  natives  for  Indians  would 
be  free  from  the  objection  that  has  been  made  In  other 
parts,  that  the  employment  of  native  clerks  and  artisans  is 
taking  the  bread  out  of  the  white  man's  mouth. 

For  the  formation  of  a  native  army  there  may  at 
present  seem  to  be  but  little  need,  but  it  might  conceiv- 
ably occur,  and  it  is  a  question  whether  we  are  not  wast- 
ing our  opportunities  of  making  the  best  of  the  material 
at  our  command.  France  is  utilising  to  a  remarkable 
degree  the  fighting  forces  in  her  West  African  possessions, 
and  we  might  well  consider  the  advisability  of  following 
her  example.  Military  training  is  a  thing  that  the 
African  native  takes  to  with  considerable  readiness — as 
has  been  proved  in  the  Soudanese  regiments,  the  King's 
African  Rifles,  and  the  Northern  Rhodesia  Police — and 
the  discipline  itself  would  be  an  educative  influence 
that  is  not  to  be  disregarded.  The  Baganda  are,  by 
treaty,  under  an  obligation  to  serve  as  a  militia  when 
called  upon,  but  though  they  have  on  one  occasion  shown 
a  striking  readiness  to  fulfil  their  contract,  they  are  quite 
untrained,  while  the  resources  of  many  another  warlike 
tribe  have  as  yet  been  scarcely  tapped.  But  it  is  in  his 
capacity  as  an  unskilled  workman  that  the  native  is  at 
present,  as  he  will  be  for  all  time,  attracting  and  demand- 


300    THROUGH  THE   HEART  OF  AFRICA 


ing  the  most  serious  attention.  The  development  of 
Africa,  given  capital  and  enterprise,  depends  upon  the 
native  labour  supply,  and  upon  relatively  little  else/  The 
chief  difficulty  in  the  labour  problem  consists  in  the 
obstinate  and  patent  fact  that  the  native  requires  to-day 
so  little  for  his  maintenance  that,  left  alone,  he  has 
neither  need  nor  desire  for  employment.  The  obvious 
remedy  is  not  to  leave  him  alone,  and  there  are  a  hundred 
reasons,  many  of  which  have  already  been  touched  upon, 
why  he  should  be  taught  and  encouraged  to  work.^  If 
this  can  be  done  without  creating  too  hurriedly  a  variety 
of  new  and  purchaseable  wants,  so  much  the  better.  His 
wants  need  developing  gradually,  so  that  he  can  begin  to 
feel  the  need  for  things  that  tend  to  raise  him  in  the  social 
scale  rather  than  things  which  only  lend  themselves  to 
incongruous  adornment.  The  evolution  of  efficient 
methods  of  stimulating,  organising,  and  regularising  the 
labour  supply  of  the  eastern  half  of  the  continent  is  a 
problem  that  is  exercising  Governments  and  employers 
from  Egypt  to  the  Cape.  Great  progress  has  been  made 
in  the  last  few  years,  and  from  large  districts,  the  very 
boundaries  of  which  the  inhabitants  vi^ere  too  timid  or  too 
unenterprising  to  cross,  gangs  of  labourers  are  now  pro- 
ceeding to  the  mining,  railway,  and  agricultural  centres 
that  depend  so  largely  upon  their  aid. 

But  the  real  work  is  only  beginning,  and  great  care 
and  foresight  must  be  exercised  if  the  best  is  to  be  ex- 
tracted from  the  material  at  hand.  A  very  large  degree 
of  parental  supervision  must  for  an  indefinite  time  be 
necessary  during  the  whole  period  of  the  natives'  employ- 
ment as  well  as  while  travelling  to  and  from  the  place  of 
employment.  The  task  of  equitable  distribution  to  the 
various  centres  of  industry  is  no  easy  one,  and  may 
well  grow  in  difficulty  as  development  proceeds.  But 

*  "  The  core  of  most  problems  connected  with  the  opening  up  of  Africa  is  cheap 
labour." — Sir  H.  H.  Johnston  in  George  Grenfell  and  the  Coirgo.  "  Without 
labour  we  cannot  develop  the  continent,  and  if  we  cannot  get  the  native  to 
work,  what  is  to  become  of  Africa  ?" — Dr.  Keltie  in  The  Partition  of  Africa. 

*  "Labour  is  good  for  the  people,  but  only  if  they  find  some  satisfaction  in 
it  ...  a  healthy  commerce  should  be  fostered." — George  Grenfell  and  the  Congo 
(1894). 


SOME  AFRICAN  PROBLEMS  301 

the  possibility  of  a  distribution  of  labour  leading  to  a 
redistribution  of  population  must  be  for  many  reasons 
rigorously  guarded  against,  and  repatriation  must  be 
regular  and  unfailing.  An  almost  equally  important  con- 
sideration is  the  restriction  and  equalisation,  as  far  as 
possible,  of  the  rates  of  pay.  The  situation  has  not  yet 
become  generally  acute,  but  it  requires  careful  handling, 
or  there  will  be  a  risk  of  a  variety  of  scales  of  wages 
coming  into  existence  as  widely  divergent  as  the  localities 
at  which  the  labour  is  employed.  Especially  is  this  risk 
apparent  where  rapid  development  or  a  promise  of 
rapid  development  attracts  a  sudden  influx  of  capital,  and 
creates  an  abnormal  demand  for  labour.  The  township 
of  Elisabethville  is  a  case  in  point.  Here,  in  a  settlement 
barely  twelve  months  old,  wages  and  consequently  prices 
are  ruling  as  high  as  if  not  higher  than  in  the  notoriously 
expensive  city  of  Johannesburg,  although  the  surrounding 
country  has  enjoyed  for  years  rates  of  pay  which  are  as 
low  as  any  in  Africa.  To  obtain  this  equalisation  of 
wages  as  well  as  the  distribution  of  labour,  highly  organised 
and  well-managed  Labour  Bureaux  have  already  been 
found  indispensable,  and  their  institution  might  well  be 
extended  to  other  of  our  African  dependencies — for  instance, 
the  East  Africa  Protectorate,  where  labour  is  largely  in 
demand  by  two  distinct  classes  of  employer,  and  the  pre- 
carious nature  of  the  supply  is  beginning  to  be  seriously 
felt. 

The  Labour  Bureau  cannot  be  an  independent  com- 
mercial undertaking  ;  it  must  either  be  a  recognised  de- 
partment of  the  Government,  or  the  Government  must 
keep  it  very  largely  under  its  control.  An  independent 
institution  cannot  be  expected  or  allowed  to  exercise  the 
influence  necessary  to  gain  its  ends  ;  its  action  must  within 
limits  be  arbitrary,  or  a  highly  important  branch  of 
national  industry  is  liable  to  be  shelved.  Mineral  wealth 
is  a  huge  and  undeniable  asset.  Mine  development 
attracts  capital  and  population,  and  brings  with  it  the  con- 
struction of  railways,  but  it  must  be  regarded  as  a  means 
to  an  end  rather  than  the  sole  ambition  of  a  fertile  country,. 


302    THROUGH  THE   HEART  OF  AFRICA 


and  precautions  should  be  taken  lest  its  temporarily 
higher  paying  power  hamper  or  overwhelm  the  agri- 
cultural enterprise  on  the  fruits  of  which  the  final  and 
lasting  prosperity  of  the  colonies  must  rest.  As  Rhodes 
remarked  in  1893,  "There  is  a  bottom  to  every  mine  !" 

The  methods  and  principles  of  native  administration 
form  a  subject  of  inexhaustible  interest  and  vast  im- 
portance, on  which  all,  from  the  hurried  visitor  to  the 
oldest  resident,  are  almost  equally  prepared  to  dogmatise, 
and  almost  equally  certain  to  be  met  with  contradiction. 
The  government  of  the  African  natives  is  not  a  difficult 
task,  but  the  study  of  the  natives  themselves  is  so  com- 
plicated, and  their  attitude  such  a  fantastic  mixture  of 
frankness  and  reticence,  innocence  and  cunning,  that 
every  succeeding  year  spent  amongst  them  serves  but 
to  convince  the  student  of  the  shallowness  of  his  know- 
ledge and  the  depth  and  difficulty  of  all  there  is  left  to 
learn.  That  they  are  easy  to  govern  in  spite  of  it  may 
be  taken  to  be  largely  due  to  two  facts — that  though 
they  understand  the  white  man  quite  as  little  as  he  under- 
stands them,  they  accept  him,  as  they  have  always  accepted 
those  who  have  proved  themselves  stronger  or  superior, 
as  something  in  the  immutable  order  of  things,  and  even 
more — they  accept  him  as  something  superhuman,  some- 
thing almost  divine.  Their  readiness  to  submit  to  autho- 
rity, then,  predisposes  them  to  docility,  and  if  the  white 
man's  rule  is  conducted  on  principles  of  justice  and 
humanity — even  though  his  ideas  of  justice  may  be  at 
variance  to  their  own,  as  they  often  are^ — the  difficulties  of 
government  are  already  largely  overcome.  But  this  con- 
dition must  be  strictly  and  conscientiously  fulfilled  :  there 
must  be  sympathy  and  understanding  as  far  as  may  be 
between  the  rulers  and  the  ruled :  ^  justice  must  be 
strictly  dispensed  and  the  dignity  of  the  white  man 
rigorously  upheld.  The  latter  is  not  difficult  while  the 
numbers  of  the  governing  race  are  few,  but  the  influx 

^  "  Our  administration  of  justice  can  never  appear  to  the  Kafir  as  satisfactory." 
—Dudley  Kidd. 

*  "An  Administrator  must  understand  the  native  point  of  view." — Andrew 
Lang. 


SOME  AFRICAN  PROBLEMS 


303 


of  a  population  of  all  grades  and  principles  brings  com- 
plications, and  it  is  then  that  the  discipline  has  to  be,  if  any- 
thing, more  rigorous,  and  a  just  balance  firmly  maintained. 

The  chiefs  and  any  existing  organised  system  of  con- 
trol should  be  utilised  to  the  greatest  possible  degree,  but 
it  should  be  under  the  guidance  and  supervision  of  the 
white  man,  who  should  keep  in  touch  with  the  populace 
and  rigorously  avoid  the  role  of  a  mere  receiver  of 
revenues  and  an  administrative  figure-head.  That  the 
benefits  to  the  natives  themselves  of  European  occupa- 
tion— if  not  the  right  of  conquest — justify  the  imposition 
of  a  monetary  tax  can  scarcely  be  open  to  discussion. 
The  principle  of  foregoing  its  collection  just  so  long  as  a 
people  can  govern  itself  and  manage  its  own  affairs  in 
an  orderly  manner  without  assistance  or  interference  is 
sound,  but  there  are  few  if  any  such  cases  now  in  ex- 
istence, and  it  follows  that  the  payment  by  tribes  who  are 
brought  under  the  control  of  civilised  nations,  and  whose 
welfare  and  good  government  is  consulted,  of  a  contribu- 
tion towards  the  working  cost  of  the  administrative 
machinery  is  merely  a  matter  of  course.  If  any  are  dis- 
posed to  cavil  at  the  justice  of  this  we  would  remind 
them  that  very  few — and  those  the  lowest  types — have 
ever  at  any  time  enjoyed  immunity  from  some  sort  of 
tribute  or  tax  ;  that  as  a  rule  their  enforced  contributions 
entailed  considerably  greater  hardships  and  were  based 
upon  far  less  obvious  rights  than  are  their  present  obliga- 
tions ;  ^  and  that  the  relaxation  or  abolition  of  all  tangible 
sign  of  their  submission  would  be  as  demoralising  for 
them  as  it  would  be  suicidal  for  us. 

Native  administration  is  complicated  at  present  by  the 
variety  of  languages  or  dialects  spoken  by  the  different 
tribes.  It  is  to  a  considerable  extent  also  the  reason  of 
the  incapacity  for  combination,  which  has  rendered  the 
pacification  of  African  territories  so  rapid,  and  so  little 
hampered  by  insurrection  and  revolt.    At  the  same  time, 

1  "  They  sacrifice  their  own  private  gains  and  private  ideas  for  the  good  of 
the  State.  .  ,  .  The  people  readily  and  willingly  pay  their  way,  they  support 
their  chiefs  and  even  glory  in  the  self-sacrifice  it  entails." — Dudley  Kidd. 


304    THROUGH  THE  HEART  OF  AFRICA 


though  the  knowledge  of  its  own  particular  language  is 
indispensable  for  the  present  to  the  man  who  is  devoting 
himself  to  the  administration  of  any  particular  tribe,  there 
is  little  doubt  that  a  lingua  franca  or  two  or  three  liiigitce 
franca:  for  general  purposes  must  come  sooner  or  later. 
The  hybrid  jargons  growing  daily  in  popular  use,  such  as 
"  kitchen  Kafir "  or  the  Ki-Swahili  of  the  interior,  are  as 
repugnant  in  nature  as  they  are  limited  in  range,  but  as 
communications  improve  and  civilisation  proceeds  a  more 
or  less  general  medium  must  and  will  in  the  natural 
course  of  things  eventually  be  evolved. 

It  would  not  be  fair  to  conclude  a  book  which  deals, 
however  briefly  and  inadequately,  with  some  of  the  features 
and  problems  of  parts  of  Africa  without  some  allusion  to 
the  past  and  present  services  of  that  body  of  men  whose 
pioneer  work  amongst  the  savage  inhabitants  has  been 
of  such  invaluable  assistance  in  the  pacification  and  re- 
generation of  the  continent.  It  is  easy  to  criticise  the 
work  of  Missions  in  Africa  ;  it  is  easy,  and  too  common, 
to  pick  out  isolated  instances  of  failure  in  their  ambitions, 
to  ascribe  to  their  direct  influence  the  recrudescence  in 
the  sophisticated  and  half-educated  native  of  the  unre- 
generated  traits  which  their  most  patient  training  has  not 
quite  eradicated  or  subdued  ;  it  is  easy  to  hold  up  to 
ridicule  and  contempt  an  instance  here  and  there  of  not 
quite  unselfish  devotion  to  the  cause  ;  and  it  is  not  diffi- 
cult to  point  a  comparison  between  the  ease  and  comforts 
of  the  lives  of  some  of  the  African  devotees  and  those  of 
their  fellow-workers  in  the  slums  of  our  great  European 
cities.  But  it  is  as  impossible  to  deny  the  general  and 
almost  universal  good  that  is  now  being  done  as  to  belittle 
the  heroic  and  self-sacrificing  enterprise  that  has  in  many 
quarters  smoothed  the  path  and  opened  the  door  to  paci- 
fication and  good  government.  The  influence  of  Chris- 
tianity in  Uganda,  for  instance,  has  been  of  immense  value, 
not  only  for  its  intrinsic  worth  and  its  improvement  of  the 
morals  of  a  most  immoral  race,  but  as  a  barrier  against 
the  encroachment  of  Mohammedan  propaganda.  The 
Church  Missionary  Society,  the  Universities  Mission,  the 


SOME  AFRICAN   PROBLEMS  305 


Peres  Blancs,  the  London  Missionary  Society,  the  United 
Free  Church,  and  other  denominations  have  done  and  are 
still  doing  patient  and  valuable  work  in  the  continent. 
There  has  at  times  been  friction,  and  there  has  at  times 
been  a  tendency  to  step  beyond  a  purely  non-political 
sphere,  but  the  present  situation  is  generally  marked  by 
broad-minded  tolerance,  consistent  with  the  maintenance 
of  the  highest  principles,  and  a  willingness  to  assign 
spiritual  and  temporal  matters  to  their  proper  provinces. 

But  there  can  be  no  hard  and  fast  line  between  a 
sound  and  rational  missionary  policy  and  a  sound  and 
rational  administration  among  the  African  natives.  Every 
European  in  Africa  is  a  missionary,  and  though  he  may 
not  be  engaged  in  preaching  the  gospel,  his  high  example 
and  jealous  guardianship  of  the  dignity  of  his  race  must 
have  an  elevating  and  civilising  effect,  and  serve  to  justify 
his  claim  to  regenerate  and  enjoy  the  conditions  and  re- 
sources of  the  vast  territories  upon  which  he  has  imposed 
his  sway. 


Printed  by  Ballantvne,  Hanson  <j=  Co. 
Edinburgh  <S---  London 


I 


